India readies mass evacuations as Cyclone Arnab approaches eastern states
Two states along India’s eastern coast were preparing to evacuate thousands of people ahead of Cyclone Arnab, which is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, as one of them said it would close schools in some districts for two days. Arnab, which formed over the Bay of Bengal before intensifying into a cyclonic storm, is expected to make landfall in Andhra Pradesh state by Wednesday morning, with gusts of as much as 140 kph (87 mph), India’s weather office said. The cyclone will probably intensify further, it added. The weather system is expected to bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall to Andhra Pradesh’s northern and central coastal districts, and southern regions of neighbouring Odisha. Andhra Pradesh has called for boats at sea to return ashore and ordered speedy restoration of power in case of disruptions. A senior Andhra Pradesh disaster management official told Reuters on Monday the state government had identified 570,000 people as vulnerable and evacuations would start on Monday evening. Odisha’s government announced the closure of schools and colleges in five districts for Tuesday and Wednesday, and said it was preparing to move residents of low-lying areas to cyclone shelters. The Bay of Bengal is one of the world’s major regions for tropical cyclones.
Authorities in eastern India have begun preparations to relocate hundreds of thousands of residents as Cyclone Arnab advances toward the coastline, meteorologists and disaster officials reported. The storm is forecast to strike the shore on Wednesday morning, bringing dangerous winds and intense downpours to coastal areas.
The cyclonic system developed over the Bay of Bengal and gained strength as it charted a path toward land. According to India's meteorological department, the cyclone is projected to cross the coast of Andhra Pradesh with peak wind gusts reaching up to 140 kilometres per hour, equivalent to roughly 87 miles per hour. Forecasters warned that the system could strengthen further before coming ashore.
Emergency agencies in Andhra Pradesh have pinpointed approximately 570,000 residents living in vulnerable locations. Relocation operations were scheduled to commence on Monday evening, a senior disaster management official told Reuters. Officials in the state also instructed fishing vessels currently offshore to return to safety immediately and placed repair teams on alert to restore electricity rapidly if transmission networks suffer damage.
The neighbouring state of Odisha is also taking precautions against potential impacts. State officials announced that educational institutions, including schools and colleges across five districts, will remain shut on Tuesday and Wednesday. Plans are underway there to transfer inhabitants from flood-prone lowlands into dedicated emergency shelters.
Meteorological projections indicate that the cyclone will dump heavy to extremely intense rain across the northern and central coastal belts of Andhra Pradesh, alongside southern sections of Odisha. The Bay of Bengal is widely recognized as one of the world's most active basins for tropical storm activity, regularly subjecting adjacent coastal communities to severe weather events.
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VerifiedReported from Dawn (Pakistan).
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