CHENNAI, INDIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 46 people have been killed and thousands of homes have been damaged after severe Cyclone Thane struck India's southeastern coast on Friday, officials said on Saturday. The death toll is expected to rise.

Cyclone Thane hit the coast in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on Friday, leaving a trial of destruction in most notably Cuddalore district and neighboring Union Territory of Puducherry. Cuddalore, south of the city of Chennai, reported at least 26 deaths.

Two fatalities were reported in Villupuram district, two in Tiruvallur, three in Kanchipuram, one in Theni and another in Chennai. Four deaths were also reported in Kerala and seven more died in Puducherry, many as a result of wall collapses and electrocution.

Torrential rains accompanied by winds of up to 140 kilometers (85 miles) per hour uprooted hundreds of trees and electric poles, blocking road traffic and snapping power supply in several areas. Puduchery District Collector S B Deepak Kumar told the Press Trust of India that rescue operations were in full swing and uprooted trees were being removed from the roads.

After making landfall on Friday, Thane moved further westward and weakened rapidly into a deep depression. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the storm had weakened into a 'well marked low pressure area' by early Saturday morning.

"Under the influence of this system, rainfall at most places with heavy falls at isolated places would occur over Kerala during next 24 hours," the department said in a weather bulletin. "Rainfall at many places with isolated heavy rainfall may occur over south interior Karnataka and north interior Tamilnadu during [the] next 12 hours."

Thane was the strongest cyclone of the 2011 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, which runs throughout the year although most cyclones tend to form between April and December, with notable peaks in May and November.

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