1 / 5People walk in the rain in Kolkata. Authorities in nearby Bangladesh put more than 50,000 volunteers on standby and readied about 5000 shelters as a strong cyclone in the Bay of Bengal is expected to hit the low-lying nation's vast southwestern and southern coast on Saturday evening. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
2 / 5Mechanized boats and ferries stand moored at an empty jetty as ferry services were suspended due to cyclonic storm, on the Hooghly River in Kolkata. Packing winds of up to 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 130 kph (80 mph), Cyclone Bulbul weakened when it started crossing Bangladesh's southwestern coastal region, dumping incessant rains across the country. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
3 / 5Up to 1.8 million people were expected to be evacuated by Saturday evening, said Enamur Rahman, Bangladesh's junior disaster management minister. More than 5,000 shelters had been prepared. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
4 / 5Pedestrians use umbrellas to shield themselves from the wind and rain. The storm is also expected to impact parts of northeastern India, where precautions were being taken. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
5 / 5Bangladesh, a nation of 16 crore people, has a history of violent cyclones. But disaster preparedness programs in recent decades have upgraded the country's capacity to deal with natural disasters, resulting in fewer casualties. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
