Pakistani authorities Monday evacuated thousands of people from southern coastal areas and put the military on high alert as a tropical cyclone headed towards the shores of Sindh and Balochistan provinces, according to dpa. "This morning strong Monsoon Weather System (Deep Depression) over North Arabian Sea has converted into a Tropical Cyclone. Now it lies about 150 kilometres South of Karachi at Lat 23.00N and Long 67.00E, a warning on meteorological department website read. The storm was expected to carry "maximum sustain winds 40 knots to 50 knots gusting to 60 - 70 knots" and "heavy to very heavy rainfall".