The met office upgraded the cyclonic storm “Phailin” to “severe” in the east-central bay and adjoining west-central bay on Thursday, and warned it was likely to intensify further as it moves in a northwest-erly direction towards India. The Met Office special weather bulletin published at 3pm on Thursday said “Phailin” was packing max-imum wind speeds of 120-140kph and was centred about 800km south of Chittagong port, 715km south of Cox’s Bazar port and 795km south of Mongla port. Officials suggested all three keep the distant warning signal number two hoisted, and advised fishing boats and trawlers over the north bay and in the deep sea to remain close to the coast. “If the storm continues on its current course at its present speed, it will hit the Orissa coastline in In-dia,” Shah Alam, director of Bangladesh Department of Meteorology, told the Dhaka Tribune.