Cyclone Toll in India at 415

Survivors returned to their villages Wednesday to find them virtually wiped out by a cyclone that tore across western India, killing at least 415 people, injuring 1,200 and leaving thousands homeless.

The toll from Tuesday’s storm, the worst to hit India in 25 years, could rise. Many people remain missing, and relief workers have yet to reach remote villages.

As day broke with bright sunshine in some of the worst-hit areas, army helicopters began dropping food packets to survivors and rescue workers attempted to reach remote areas.

Helicopters spotted bodies scattered in Gujarat state’s Kutch district, but the area remained inaccessible Wednesday because of the havoc caused by the storm, said Praveen Lehri, a state government official.

Most of the nearly 10,000 salt workers in the coastal region were evacuated before the storm hit, Lehri said. But many had been reluctant to leave their homes.

In Kutch district, a 12-foot wave flooded low-lying areas near the port of Kandla, 330 miles northwest of Bombay. Many people drowned or were swept into the Arabian Sea.

Most of the deaths--406--were in Gujarat state, where the cyclone first hit land, state Home Minister Haren Pandya said. Officials in neighboring Rajasthan state reported nine deaths.

All the homes in at least six Gujarati villages were washed away.