Cyclone Arnab: Over 89,000 evacuated, NDRF teams deployed ahead of Andhra landfall

Very severe cyclonic storm Arnab is expected to make landfall along the coast of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday.

The cyclone will make landfall between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, close to Puducherry’s Yanam town, with the maximum sustained wind speed of 125 km per hour to 135 km per hour, gusting up to 150 km per hour, the weather department said. It is expected to make landfall in the early hours of Wednesday.

As of 2.30 pm Indian time on Tuesday, the cyclonic storm was centred about 170 km south of Vishakhapatnam.

Heavy rainfall

The cyclone will likely lead to isolated but extremely heavy rainfall in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Odisha and Chhattisgarh on Tuesday and Wednesday, the weather department said.

It advised residents in these areas to remain alert, follow official weather updates and adhere to the advisories issued by the authorities.

Sea conditions will remain rough till at least Thursday morning, it added.

Relief measures

In Andhra Pradesh, nearly 89,000 persons living on the Kakinada coast were being shifted to relief camps, The Hindu reported.

Odisha was planning to shift 48,000 persons by Tuesday evening, PTI reported.

The National Disaster Relief Force said that it had deployed 31 teams in the states likely to be affected. Twelve teams had been deployed in Andhra Pradesh, nine in Odisha, four in Chhattisgarh, three in Telangana...

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