Severe Cyclone Arnab Makes Landfall on India's East Coast With Gusts to 150 km/h

Very severe cyclonic storm Arnab began making landfall on India's east coast in the early hours of Wednesday. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and The Hindu BusinessLine, the storm is crossing the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to the south of Yanam, with maximum sustained winds of 125–135 km/h and gusts reaching 150 km/h. The landfall process was expected to be completed in the early hours of Wednesday, with winds decreasing gradually afterwards.

Storm surge and heavy rain warnings

The IMD warned that a storm surge of 1.5 to 2.5 metres above normal tide was very likely to inundate low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh over the next six hours, with the peak surge expected near Kakinada and Yanam. A red alert for extremely heavy rainfall was issued for Andhra Pradesh, with heavy rain warnings extended to Odisha, Telangana and Jharkhand. Thousands of people were evacuated along the east coast ahead of the storm, and some train and flight services were cancelled.

No deaths so far; shelters prepared in advance

The office of Andhra Pradesh's chief minister said no loss of life had been reported so far, although trees were uprooted in several places and power supply was disrupted. The state had identified 2,199 cyclone shelters and prepared evacuation plans prioritising the elderly, children, persons with disabilities and pregnant women, with 2,360 pregnant women already shifted to medical facilities. The Bay of Bengal is a cyclone-prone region: a super cyclone that hit Odisha in October 1999 killed nearly 10,000 people, and the early evacuations and warnings this time are seen as key to avoiding a repeat.