New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday reviewed the situation arising due to cyclone Phailin on the east coast and directed that all possible assistance should be extended to the states which were on alert.

The prime minister reviewed the situation soon after his return from Indonesia where he was on an official visit.

Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth briefed the prime minister of the measures that had been put in place.

More than 400,000 people were shifted to safety in coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in anticipation of the cyclonic storm which hit the coast in Odisha around 9 p.m.