Nearly 3 lakh people fled their homes in coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on Friday as a massive cyclone - so large it filled nearly the entire Bay of Bengal - gathered strength and headed towards eastern coast, while army mobilised to assist in evacuation and rescue efforts.br Forecasters said cyclone Phailin, which will make landfall near Gopalpur in Odisha on Saturday evening, was a "very severe cyclonic storm" and is expected to cause large-scale power and communications outages and shut down rail links if it continues on its current path without weakening.