As it intensified to a Category 4-equivalent cyclone on November 14, thousands of emergency officials were put on standby in eastern India and Bangladesh in advance of the storm's arrival. Massive evacuations of low-lying coastal areas also took place, although sheltering was only available for about 500,000 of the over 10 million residents of coastal areas. The IMD also issued a cyclone alert for Orissa and West Bengal on November 14. On the morning of November 15, the cyclone intensified to reach peak winds of 215 km/h (135 mph) according to the IMD, and a peak of 260 km/h (160 mph) according to the JTWC. Sidr officially made landfall around 1700 UTC later that day, with sustained winds of 215 km/h (135 mph). A station in coastal Bangladesh reported 80 knots (148 km/h) at 1800 UTC of 15 November 2007. According to media reports, the wind speed of about 200 km/h prevailed over Bangladesh coast at the time of landfall. It weakened quickly after landfall and the final advisories were issued early on November 16. The name Sidr was contributed by Oman; it is an Arabic name of a tree belonging to the Ziziphus family, specifically the "Ziziphus spina-christi".