Cyclone Arnab strikes Andhra Pradesh coast with 185 kph winds
Nearly 90,000 residents were moved to safety before the storm made landfall on Wednesday.
By Kofi Greco ·
Cyclone Arnab crossed the coastline of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Wednesday, October 28.
Prakhar Jain, who heads the state disaster management authority, reported that the system weakened slightly prior to landfall. Despite this shift, the storm maintained peak wind speeds of 185 kilometers per hour. The cyclone delivered heavy to very heavy rainfall across several coastal districts, causing widespread disruption in affected regions.
Officials indicated that the storm would lose strength as it traveled inland. Wind speeds were projected to drop to approximately 110 kilometers per hour later in the day. No immediate reports of casualties emerged following the initial landfall.
The India Meteorological Department warned that strong winds and heavy rain would persist in coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of southern Odisha for the next four hours. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the head of the meteorological department, stated that the tip of the system had entered the landmass. He noted that the entire landfall process would require about four hours to complete.
Cyclone Arnab intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm late Tuesday. Outer bands began lashing parts of the Andhra Pradesh coast as the storm moved toward an earlier-than-expected landfall after intensifying over the Bay of Bengal.
State authorities placed all coastal districts on high alert Tuesday. They began evacuating residents from low-lying and flood-prone zones. Officials canceled certain train services as heavy rain and gusty winds hit the coast. An official statement confirmed that at least 89,000 people had been evacuated in Andhra Pradesh.
The disaster management authority reported that more than 12 million people live along the storm's expected path. Officials set up over 2,000 cyclone shelters across 20 districts. Emergency alerts were sent to the mobile phones of millions of residents. Jain also noted that more than 30,000 fishing boats were secured along the coast. Nearly 1,100 medical teams were deployed to provide emergency assistance. In neighboring Odisha, officials planned to evacuate about 48,000 people from areas likely to be impacted by the storm.
Source: WDIV ClickOnDetroit
