Cyclone Arnab began crossing the Andhra Pradesh coast early on Wednesday, bringing torrential rain, powerful winds and a dangerous storm surge to large parts of eastern India after days of warnings and mass evacuations. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the landfall process started near Yanam, close to Kakinada, and was expected to continue for several hours as the storm moved slowly inland.
Arnab, classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, is the third-highest category on the IMD's scale. In a bulletin issued at 6:30 am on Wednesday, the weather office said the cyclone was located over the west-central Bay of Bengal, close to the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts, and was practically stationary.
The centre of the storm was about 30 kilometres east of Narsapur, 45 kilometres south-southwest of Yanam, 70 kilometres south-southwest of Kakinada and 90 kilometres east-northeast of Machilipatnam.
The IMD said winds of 115 to 125 kilometres per hour were battering the coast, with gusts reaching up to 140 kilometres per hour. A storm surge of one to one and a half metres above the normal astronomical tide was very likely to inundate low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh during the landfall period, before decreasing thereafter.
The department said the cyclone would move slowly northwestwards at first and then turn north-northwestwards, gradually weakening as it travelled over land.
Heavy rain had already lashed the region before the centre of the storm came ashore. In Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam recorded the highest rainfall at 216 millimetres between 8:30 am on Tuesday and 5:30 am on Wednesday, followed by Kalingapatnam at 147 millimetres, Tuni at 123 millimetres, Kakinada at 118 millimetres and Machilipatnam at 115 millimetres. Narsapur recorded 48.6 millimetres, Bapatla 15.9 millimetres and Ongole 0.4 millimetres in the same period.
In neighbouring Odisha, Ganjam and Balasore were among the districts that witnessed heavy rain, and severe waterlogging was reported near the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
More than 1,80,000 people were evacuated in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha ahead of the cyclone's arrival, as the two state governments moved residents from vulnerable coastal villages to relief camps. Officials said no loss of life had been reported in either state in the early hours of Wednesday, but power supplies were disrupted in several areas, trees were uprooted and some schools were closed.
Several train services were cancelled, and airlines cancelled flights to Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada for Wednesday. The Ministry of Civil Aviation reviewed the situation and the operational readiness of airports and airlines, and flight operations were suspended at three airports in Andhra Pradesh as the storm approached.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu continued to receive updates from officials on the movement of the severe cyclonic storm through the night, his office said. The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority tracked the storm's movement through the day and shared regular updates with the public.
District administrations in the coastal belt kept disaster response teams, boats, generators and food supplies ready, while police and civil defence personnel worked to keep people away from beaches and flooded roads.
The IMD's forecast for the hours after landfall pointed to a gradual weakening of the system. After crossing the coast, the storm was expected to lose strength, with gale-force winds of 70 to 80 kilometres per hour, gusting to 90 kilometres per hour, by the evening of October 28. By the morning of October 29, squally winds of 40 to 50 kilometres per hour, gusting to 60 kilometres per hour, were expected, decreasing gradually thereafter.
Even as the winds eased, however, the rain threat was set to travel inland. Isolated to very heavy rainfall was expected over Telangana and Vidarbha on October 28, followed by Chhattisgarh, east Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha on October 29, and extending into Bihar from October 29 to 30.
The cyclone's influence was also expected to reach far beyond the east coast. The IMD said the outer bands of Arnab, interacting with an approaching western disturbance, could bring multiple spells of moderate to heavy showers and thunderstorms to Delhi-NCR and adjoining parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana on Thursday and the first half of Friday.
The rain could coincide with Karwa Chauth, when cloudy weather is likely, and is expected to bring a significant drop in daytime temperatures. Forecasters also noted that the rain would help keep air quality in check at least until the weekend, extending what has so far been a favourable October for air pollution in the capital.
Cyclone Arnab formed over the Bay of Bengal earlier in the week and intensified steadily as it moved towards the Andhra coast, prompting the IMD to issue a series of warnings for fishermen, coastal residents and district authorities. Fishermen were advised not to venture into the sea, and those already out were asked to return to shore.
Ports along the coast hoisted warning signals, and the National Disaster Response Force positioned teams in the districts expected to bear the brunt of the storm.
The Bay of Bengal is one of the world's most cyclone-prone basins, and the post-monsoon months of October and November are its most active season. Warm sea surface temperatures, combined with favourable atmospheric conditions, allow storms to gather strength quickly before striking the densely populated eastern coastline.
Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have both invested heavily in cyclone preparedness over the past two decades, building shelters, strengthening embankments and improving early warning systems, and the large-scale evacuation ahead of Arnab reflected those lessons.
For residents of the coastal districts, Wednesday brought a familiar but frightening combination: howling winds, lashing rain and rising water. Videos from Visakhapatnam showed strong winds and high tides at Ramakrishna Beach, while a huge tree blocked a road in Kakinada. In Odisha, red alerts were in place for three districts as heavy rain continued.
Authorities urged people to stay indoors, avoid touching fallen power lines and not to venture out until official advisories were withdrawn.
As the day progressed, the focus of the administration was expected to shift from evacuation to relief and restoration. Clearing fallen trees, restoring power lines, reopening roads and assessing damage to crops and houses are typically the first tasks once a cyclone passes. Officials said damage assessment teams would fan out across the affected districts once conditions allowed, and that relief material was already stocked at distribution points.
The IMD has advised residents in the path of the storm to remain alert even after the winds subside, since heavy rain, waterlogging and localised flooding can continue well after landfall. Fishermen have been asked to stay ashore until the weather office withdraws its warnings, and people in low-lying areas have been told to move to higher ground if water levels rise.
Cyclone Arnab's landfall is a reminder of how quickly a weather system over the Bay of Bengal can turn into a full-scale emergency for millions of people. The early warnings, the evacuation of more than 1.8 lakh people and the round-the-clock monitoring by the IMD and state disaster management authorities appear, in the early hours, to have limited the immediate human cost.
The coming days will show the full extent of the damage to homes, crops and infrastructure, and how quickly the affected districts can return to normal.
(Reporting based on NDTV and the India Meteorological Department.)