Odisha State , India ( CNN ) -- The last time a storm as powerful as Cyclone Phailin struck the eastern coast of India , 10,000 people died . So the sense of relief is strong in the state of Odisha , where Phailin made landfall this weekend . `` I felt like I was going to die , everyone was so tense , '' said Raju Pradhan , who lives with his family in Odisha . At least 21 were killed as a direct result of the cyclone , according to Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra , Odisha state special relief commissioner . Every death is tragic , but considering Phailin was the strongest tropical storm to hit India in more than a decade , the toll could have been much higher . iReport : Cyclone leaves Indian slums in ruins . Pradhan was among 900,000 Odisha residents evacuated to shelters in schools and government offices . Authorities also moved food and medicine close to affected areas before the storm . Those preparations now are credited with the huge reduction in casualties from 1999 's Cyclone Orissa , which killed 10,000 and caused more than $ 2 billion in damage . That cyclone , the strongest ever recorded in Bay of Bengal , carried winds of 155 mph at landfall . Phailin arrived with winds of 140 mph . By Monday evening , almost everyone who had been in shelters because of Phailin had gone home , with the few who are left expected to return home by Tuesday morning , Mohapatra said . Assessing damage . Phailin flooded highways and knocked down trees and power lines . Authorities said it could take up to a week to restore electric service . Flooded roads and rail lines could take longer to repair . Major crop damage also was expected , and some evacuees may have lost homes made of mud and bamboo . Aid had not reached all areas . When a CNN crew arrived Sunday in a coastal village in Ganjam District , residents ran outside to complain . The village was running out of food and water , the residents said . And they said they expected more flooding as rainfall from the storm drained toward them . Cyclone leaves trail of destruction . Panic buying . About 40 miles inland in the state capital of Bhubaneswar , resident Prabir Panda said he and others were alarmed into buying food , candles and buckets by news reports comparing Phailin to Orissa and the Hurricane Katrina in the United States . And he said he worried when a tree in his garden was blown down and others swung crazily in the wind . But afterward , people in Bhubaneswar emerged to check out the damage and share their relief , he said . Property damage in the city was limited to trees and small shops , he said . Panda praised the evacuations of people from low-lying places , which he said ran against `` a cultural feeling that we normally do n't move out of our houses whatever the cause . '' `` This time , the government ensured people are forced to move out , '' he said . He said government disaster management teams and military forces had been on the job in his city for two days . `` Everyone is happy with the way the local state government has managed it this time , '' Panda said . CNN 's Mallika Kapur reported from the Indian state of Odisha , and David Simpson wrote from Atlanta . CNN 's Radina Gigova contributed to this report .
NEW : At least 20 deaths recorded so far from Phailin village . Odisha has experienced floods of 1999 when 10,000 died . Out of 900,000 credited with saving lives . Some coastal villages say they 're still waiting for rescue .