More than 200,000 people were evacuated from their homes in the Indian state of Gujarat and authorities shut ports and major airports as the most powerful cyclone in more than two decades made landfall in the state late on Monday.

Rain intensified and several incidents of power outages were reported in the state. Electricity pylons and trees were uprooted and buildings were damaged in coastal areas of Gujarat, state authorities said.

With the worst of the storm expected to last for several hours after Cyclone Tauktae slammed into the state's coast, it piles more pressure on Indian authorities already struggling with a huge caseload of COVID-19 infections.

The cyclone has lashed India's financial hub of Mumbai, forcing authorities to suspend operations at the city's airport and close some main roads due to flooding. Tracks on Mumbai's urban rail system, one of the world's busiest, were also flooded.

Two barges with over 400 people on board were adrift near the Mumbai coastline and vessels were sent to provide help, said the local branch of India's defense ministry.

Some 127 people were missing on Tuesday after a vessel adrift off Mumbai's coast sank during Cyclone Tauktae, the Indian navy said

The cyclone has already killed at least 16 people and left a trail of destruction as it brushed past the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, the authorities said.

"The landfall process has started, and it is expected to last for four hours. The intensity of the Cyclone Tauktae will go down once it is over," Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said in a social media address on late Monday evening.

On Tuesday, India's meteorological department said the cyclone was continuing to show a "weakening trend."

Authorities also fretted about the state's Asiatic lions, an endangered species found only in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat where the cyclone is expected to inflict most damage.

"There are around 40 lions in some patches in coastal Saurashtra, and we are monitoring them. Some lions have already moved to higher grounds. We are keeping fingers crossed, and praying the lions will be safe," said Shyamal Tikadar, principal chief conservator of forests in Gujarat.

Gujarat and Mumbai both suspended their vaccination drives on Monday due to the cyclone.

The cyclone is said to be the most severe one to hit Gujarat in at least 20 years. A 1998 cyclone killed at least 4,000 people and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in the region.

(With input from Reuters)