Cyclone Arnab Set to Cross Andhra Coast on October 28; Odisha Mobilises Rescue Teams

Cyclone Arnab is expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and cross the Andhra Pradesh coast on the morning of October 28, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The system, pronounced “Ornab,” was a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal on Sunday night, and has since become a cyclonic storm.

WHERE IT IS AND WHERE IT IS HEADED

At 11.30 pm on October 25, the deep depression lay near 15.3°N and 89.7°E over the east-central and southeast Bay of Bengal, moving west-northwestwards at about 15 kmph. It was about 520 km north-northwest of Sri Vijaya Puram in the Andamans, 730 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam, 820 km east-southeast of Kakinada, 920 km east-southeast of Machilipatnam and 990 km east of Bapatla.

The IMD said the storm is very likely to move west-northwestwards and become a severe cyclonic storm by midnight on October 26, then a very severe cyclonic storm on October 27. It is then expected to move northwestwards towards the west-central Bay of Bengal near the Andhra Pradesh coast by the morning of October 28.

“It is very likely to cross Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam as a very severe cyclonic storm,” the IMD’s Bhubaneswar unit said, with maximum sustained winds of 115-125 kmph, gusting to 140 kmph, by the forenoon of October 28.

ODISHA IN THE FIRING LINE

Though landfall is expected in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha will feel the storm. Manorama Mohanty, Director of the Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre, said it will bring severe weather, extremely heavy rainfall and gusty winds across Odisha, particularly its southern regions. Odisha’s Additional Director General (Law and Order), Sanjay Kumar, said landfall along the Andhra-Odisha coast was expected around October 27 or 28.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the government had reviewed the likely impact and assigned specific responsibilities to departments. The state has cancelled the leaves of all disaster personnel and put 225 rescue teams on high alert in vulnerable districts.

Kumar said Odisha is “fully prepared,” with state and district administrations, police and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) ready after high-level meetings, including with IMD officials. Twenty ODRAF teams are already deployed, and 60 will be deployed in three phases. Older, trained ODRAF personnel are also being brought in, in coordination with the National Disaster Response Force, and preparations run from the district to the block level.

POLICE ON THE GROUND

Inspector General of Police (Central Range, Cuttack) Satyajit Nayak said four ODRAF teams have been placed in each of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack and Khordha. He held a review meeting with the superintendents of police of all seven districts in the range and told them to coordinate with the administration, ODRAF, the NDRF, the state disaster management authority, and the fire and health departments.

Police will be posted in vulnerable, low-lying and flood-prone coastal areas and will help with rescue and evacuation, moving people to cyclone shelters when needed. Clearing waterlogged areas and fallen trees, and regulating traffic, so emergency vehicles can move, are priorities.

Preventive policing will cover the affected areas, particularly to prevent thefts in residential neighbourhoods. Emergency control rooms are running round the clock in all districts. “In case of an emergency, people can directly contact these control rooms, and the police will respond promptly,” Nayak said.

ANDHRA PRADESH ON HIGH ALERT

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has told officials to stay on high alert and ensure maximum preparedness at every level to minimise the impact. At a review meeting on Monday, he asked all departments to coordinate closely so people do not face difficulties, and directed district administrations to set up control rooms and give the public timely guidance.

FISHERMEN STAY ASHORE IN TAMIL NADU

After a cyclone warning for Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu, mechanised boat fishermen stayed ashore on Monday as a precaution.

With inputs from ANI