Cyclone Arnab makes landfall in Andhra Pradesh
The storm struck with 115 mph winds, forcing the evacuation of nearly 90,000 people from coastal districts.
By Takeshi Davidson ·
The central conflict in Andhra Pradesh is the tension between a massive weather event and the logistical effort to move nearly 90,000 people out of its path. Cyclone Arnab crossed the state's coast in the early hours of Wednesday, officials confirmed. This landfall occurred after a day of intense preparation and mass evacuations from vulnerable coastal zones.
Prakhar Jain, the head of the state’s disaster management authority, reported that the system weakened slightly before hitting the ground. Despite this reduction in intensity, the cyclone maintained peak winds of up to 185 kph (115 mph). These conditions delivered heavy to very heavy rainfall to several coastal districts, causing widespread disruption across the affected regions.
The India Meteorological Department predicted further weakening as the storm moved inland. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the head of the IMD, stated that wind speeds were likely to drop to around 110 kph (68 mph) later in the day. He noted that the tip of the system had already entered the land mass, a process that would take approximately four hours to complete.
No immediate reports of casualties emerged in the hours following landfall. The IMD warned that heavy rainfall and strong winds would continue to affect coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and parts of southern Odisha for the next four hours. This sustained impact required continued monitoring and emergency response efforts.
Preparations began late Tuesday when the storm's outer bands started lashing the coast. Authorities placed all coastal districts on high alert and began evacuating residents from low-lying and flood-prone areas. They canceled some train services as heavy rain and gusty winds intensified. An official statement confirmed that at least 89,000 people had been evacuated in Andhra Pradesh by that point.
The disaster management authority stated that more than 12 million people live along the cyclone's expected path. To manage this population, officials set up over 2,000 cyclone shelters across 20 districts. They secured more than 30,000 fishing boats along the coast and deployed nearly 1,100 medical teams to provide emergency assistance. Emergency alerts were sent to the mobile phones of millions of residents.
In neighboring Odisha, officials planned to evacuate about 48,000 people from areas likely to be affected by the storm. This coordinated effort aimed to reduce the risk to populations in both states as the system continued its inland trajectory.
