MUMBAI, June 3: Mumbai heaved a sigh of relief, and then smiled from ear to ear, as a ferocious Nisarga spared the city of massive deaths and destruction, a devastation forecast as unseen in a century, and preferred Alibaug to make a landfall, a 100 km short to the south, at 1 pm on Wednesday.

After hitting coastal Alibaug in Raigad district, a weakened cyclone moved north-east over Nashik, Pune and Ahmednagar, uprooting trees, electric poles and causing floods along its path. Power supply in the four districts was disrupted.

The Mumbai airport which was closed in the morning following the cyclone alert re-opened at 6 pm as the weatherman gave clearance after the cyclone skipped the city. All airlines had cancelled flights since Wednesday morning. Flights resumed in the evening.

Four people died and a few others suffered injuries in mishaps caused by the storm. In Alibaug, a 58-year old man died when an electric pole fell on him. Two persons died when the roofs of their houses were blown away by the storm. A girl died when a tree fell on her.

The cyclone skipped Mumbai city. The storm, described as a first on the western coast in a hundred years, did not wreak so much of havoc as feared earlier.

"There was a slight change of direction towards north-eastwards which meant the impact of the cyclone on Mumbai was less severe than originally expected," said the IMD.

In neighbouring Gujarat the cyclone did not wreak any substantial damage. It brought rain to Valsad. Sixty three thousand people were evacuated from eight coastal districts on Tuesday in preparation to face the cyclone. Eighteen NDRF and six SDRF teams had been kept in position for anticipated rescue operations.

The cyclone has moved over Khandwa, Khargone and Burhanpur districts early Thursday. Indore and Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh have been alerted to be prepared as the cyclone will hit the State on Thursday. These districts will experience heavy rain and lightning for the next few days.