14 Killed By Tropical Cyclone Phailin: Storm Leaves Destruction In Its Wake In India [PHOTOS]

Tropical cyclone Phailin, which formed in the Bay of Bengal Wednesday, made landfall and hit the state of Odisha on India’s east coast on Saturday. Nearly a million people were forced to evacuate, as winds reached 140 mph, or category 4 hurricane levels. The storm weakened on Sunday, leaving damage in its wake along with at least 14 dead.

In 1999, a cyclone killed 10,000 people in India. The authorites took no chances this time around, evacuating more than 900,000 people in anticipation of tropical cyclone Phailin.

"We have taken a zero-casualty approach," said Kamal Lochan Mishra, Odisha state's disaster manager. "If people do not move, force will be used to evacuate them,” Mishra added, according to a CNN report.

The displaced populace was evacuated from low-lying areas and houses in hundreds of emergency shelters set up in public buildings.

While the mandatory evacuations minimized casualties, power and communications lines were severely damaged along with extensive property damage throughout the area.

Currently, tropical cyclone Phailin has weakened into a deep depression over north Chhatisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand, according to a bulletin from the India Meteorological Department.

Google has also set up a centralized crisis response website that provides emergency contact information and aid in finding missing persons.

Take a closer look at tropical cyclone Phailin, and the damage left in its wake in the photos below.