NEW DELHI, May 2021, (TON):  Thousands of people have been evacuated from low-lying areas in western India as a powerful cyclone is expected to make landfall Tuesday, threatening a region.

Tropical Cyclone Tauktae, which formed in the Arabian Sea, is moving northward along India's western coast, bringing damaging winds, heavy rain and the threat of storm surges to the state of Gujarat.

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. the storm is packing maximum sustained winds of 205 kilometers per hour (127 mph). Tauktae has killed at least six people in southern Goa and Karnataka states.

At least two people died Sunday as a result of the storm, which caused heavy rainfall in Goa, the state's chief minister Pramod Sawant said at a news conference.

In Karnataka, four people died, 216 houses were damaged and 253 people sought shelter in relief camps due to the cyclone as of Sunday evening, according to data from the Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority.

The Indian Meteorological Department said Monday that Tauktae has intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm. Landfall is expected on the Gujarat peninsula near the town of Diu around midnight on Tuesday local time.