Cyclone Fani spurs Mt. Everest blizzard, sweeps away tents
Tropical Cyclone Fani made landfall on northeast India early Friday morning.
Cyclone Fani, the strongest storm to hit India in five years, is now being blamed for nearly 30 deaths in the country and neighbouring Bangladesh.
The storm made landfall along the northeast coast of India, just west of the city of Puri, Odisha, mid-Friday morning local time, packing wind speeds near 240 km/h.
1.2 million people in India and a further 400,000 in Bangladesh were evacuated ahead of the storm's arrival. Authorities also halted activities at Bangladesh's Chittagong Seaport, which handles 80% of the country's overseas trade.
Weather was even affected as far away as Mount Everest, some 2,300 km away from the landfall and about 900 km away from the storm's inland track. Mountaineers and Sherpa guides were urged to move to lower levels amid worsening conditions on Friday, with heavy mountain snow and lower-elevation rain expected.
Nearly 20 tents at Everest Base Camp were reported to have been blown off the mountain on Friday. "We have received reports of some tents being damaged in the strong wind, but all the climbers and their support staff are safe," Mira Acharya, the director of the Hotel and Mountaineering section under the Department of Tourism, told India Today.
May is traditionally the best month to summit Everest's 8,848-metre peak, as Nepal typically experiences longer windows of good weather at this time of year.
WATCH BELOW: VIEWS INSIDE CYCLONE FANI
With files from The Associated Press and Reuters.