HYDERABAD, India - Indian officials are evacuating hundreds of thousands of people as a powerful cyclone sweeps through the Bay of Bengal and heads toward India's east coast.

Officials were stockpiling emergency supplies and rescue workers were on standby along the coastlines of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa states Saturday, with Cyclone Hudhud expected to make landfall near the port city of Visakhapatnam around noon Sunday.

The India Meteorological Department described Hudhud as a "very severe" storm that could pack winds of 195 kilometres per hour and cause torrential rains when it makes landfall.

The cyclone was 330 kilometres southeast of Visakhapatnam on Saturday afternoon.

About 150,000 people have already been evacuated, with around 400,000 more to be relocated by the end of the day.