Schools shut as heavy storm approaches India coast

Schools in India's south were shut and hundreds of people moved inland to storm shelters ahead of a powerful cyclone storm set to hit the region on Saturday.

Cyclonic storm Fengal is forecast to make landfall in Tamil Nadu state with sustained winds of 70-80 kilometres an hour (43-50 mph) in the afternoon, India's weather bureau said.

The forecast urged fishing crews to stay off the water and predicted surging waves of one metre (three feet) that posed a flood risk to low-lying coastal areas.

Schools and colleges in numerous districts across Tamil Nadu were shut and at least 471 people had been moved to relief camps, the Economic Times newspaper reported.

Cyclones -- the equivalent of hurricanes in the North Atlantic or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific -- are a regular and deadly menace in the northern Indian Ocean.

Fengal skirted the coast of Sri Lanka earlier this week, killing at least 12 people including six children.

Scientists have warned that storms are becoming more powerful as the world heats up due to climate change driven by burning fossil fuels.

Warmer ocean surfaces release more water vapour, which provides additional energy for storms, strengthening winds.

A warming atmosphere also allows them to hold more water, boosting heavy rainfall.

But better forecasting and more effective evacuation planning have dramatically reduced death tolls.