CNN  — 

Millions of people in India and Bangladesh are in the path of a cyclone which is due to make landfall in less than 36 hours, bringing damaging winds and heavy rain to a region already struggling with the coronavirus pandemic.

Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, after intensifying with sustained wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hours), according to data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Amphan has weakened slightly since, but the storm is still the equivalent of a Category 3 Atlantic hurricane, with winds speeds up to 185 kph (115 mph).

The US Pacific Disaster Center (PDC) said up to 33.6 million people in India could potentially be exposed to the storm’s winds, while a maximum of 5.3 million could be exposed in Bangladesh. The PDC’s estimate is based on data from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Fishermen bringing in their boats after warnings were sounded ahead of the cyclone's arrival on May 18 in Puri, India.

The Bay of Bengal, in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, is positioned between India to the west and northwest, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar to the east.

Before it weakened on Wednesday, Amphan became just the second super cyclone to hit the Bay of Bengal since records began. During the last super cyclone in 1999, nearly 15,000 villages were affected and almost 10,000 people were killed.

The cyclone is due to make landfall on the India Bangladesh border on Wednesday evening, near the Indian city of Kolkata which is home to more than 14 million people

Mass evacuations underway

Indian officials said that up to 300,000 people in the coastal areas of West Bengal and Odisha are in immediate danger from the storm. Evacuations are underway in the region, according to the country’s ministry of home affairs.

Satya Narayan Pradhan, Director General of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) said in the state of West Bengal there is normally room in cyclone shelters for 500,000 people but because of social distancing rules due to the coronavirus epidemic, that number had been reduced by more than half to just 200,000.

Some buses have been arranged, he said, but many will be walking to the emergency shelters.

Pradhan added that the areas under threat from the cyclone were comparatively less developed, with many villagers in temporary homes with thatched or tin roofs. “That is going to be in the line of fire,” he said.

Relief teams are rushing to evacuate people in low-lying coastal areas in both India and Bangladesh.

A volunteer urges residents to evacuate to shelters ahead of the expected landfall of the cyclone in Khulna, Bangladesh, on May 19.

According to the Bangladesh Disaster Management Ministry’s senior information official Selim Hossain, there is capacity for 9.1 million people to be safety housed in cyclone shelters while maintaining social distancing.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the country’s emergency response measures on Monday night, ahead of the storm’s landfall in India. After the meeting, Modi said on his official Twitter account that evacuation plans had been discussed, as well as other emergency response measures.

NDRF Director General Pradhan previously said 25 NDRF teams have been deployed to the region, with 12 others ready in reserve, and 24 other teams are also on standby in different parts of India.

Fishermen have been warned to remain onshore and not sail out for the next 24 hours by the Indian Meteorological Department.

Following the meeting, Modi said on his official Twitter account that evacuation plans had been discussed, as well as other emergency response measures.

“I pray for everyone’s safety and assure all possible support from the Central Government,” he said.

Coronavirus pandemic

The storm comes as India and Bangladesh struggle to bring local coronavirus outbreaks under control. India passed more than 100,000 confirmed infections on Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University, and recorded its largest single-day spike on Wednesday with 5,611 new cases.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s infection count is rapidly rising, with more than 1,300 new cases on Sunday, its biggest rise to date. In total, the country has recorded 23,870 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins.

The countries will face as a double challenge, as emergency workers have to carry out difficult work with masks, gloves and visors, evacuating people who may already have the virus.

“(All NDRF workers) have to be masked, everyone has to wear visor, gloves … It’s almost certain that they will be going to do rescue work in red (heavily-infected) zones … They may be actually rescuing people who are already infected. It is a double challenge,” NDRF Director General Pradhan said.

Pradeep Jena, special relief commissioner for Odisha state, said emergency services had to balance saving lives from the cyclone with saving lives from the coronavirus. “We have to strike a balance between the two and evacuate people wherever it is extremely essential, otherwise people are better off in their own homes,” he said.

“We have to strike a balance between the two and evacuate people wherever it is extremely essential, otherwise people are better off in their own homes,” he said.

Members of India's National Disaster Response Force warn people on the Bay of Bengal coast at Namkhana, West Bengal, on May 19

Jena said in evacuation centers, they were trying to keep the elderly and pregnant women separate from the rest of the population and were working hard to obtain adequate soap.

“Social distancing is definitely a very good concept but enforcing it in the strictest possible manner in a disaster situation may not always be possible,” he said.

Cyclone Amphan could also bring heavy rains to the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, where almost 1 million Rohingya refugees live after fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

The first known Covid-19 cases were confirmed in the camp last week and with the storm now imminent, the two disasters could make for a devastating combination.

One human rights advocate said that a novel coronavirus outbreak in the camp would be a “nightmare scenario.”

“The prevalence of underlying health conditions among refugees and the deteriorating sanitary conditions sure to come with the looming monsoon and flooding season make for a witch’s brew of conditions in which the virus is sure to thrive,” said Daniel P. Sullivan, who works for the US-based organization Refugees International.

Abir Mahmud in Bangladesh and CNN’s Brandon Miller contributed to this article.