Cyclone Arnab Makes Landfall in India: 180,000 Evacuated as Storm Hits Andhra Pradesh Coast

Photo: Stringer/Reuters via Al Jazeera

Cyclone Arnab made landfall on India's east coast on Wednesday morning after more than 180,000 people were moved to safety in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, with trees torn down, power lines cut and flights and trains cancelled across the region.

The India Meteorological Department classed Arnab as a very severe cyclonic storm, the third-highest category on its scale. Its centre crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast in the morning and then moved fully inland, after which it was downgraded to a severe cyclonic storm, Al Jazeera reported.

Main News Report

Reuters reported that more than 180,000 people had been evacuated in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha before the cyclone arrived, and that no loss of life had been reported in either state by Wednesday afternoon.

Trees crashed onto highways and electricity poles were uprooted as the storm came ashore. Television pictures showed workers in rain gear clearing branches and leaves from roads, while schools were closed and some train and flight services were cancelled.

Winds of 125 to 135 kph, with gusts up to 150 kph, were forecast, along with a storm surge of 1 to 1.5 metres above the normal tide in low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh. Operations at three airports in the state were suspended, India's civil aviation ministry said.

Al Jazeera reported that more than 12 million people live along the cyclone's projected path, which runs inland and north across India, and that nearly 50,000 people had been moved to shelters in Andhra Pradesh alone by Monday night out of an estimated 400,000 in need of evacuation.

• Landfall: Andhra Pradesh coast, Wednesday morning
• Evacuated: more than 180,000 people in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha
• Strength: very severe cyclonic storm, winds 125 to 135 kph, gusts to 150 kph
• Storm surge: 1 to 1.5 metres above normal tide in low-lying areas
• Deaths reported so far: none in either state

Background Context

Arnab formed over the Bay of Bengal, one of the world's main breeding grounds for tropical cyclones. The bay has produced some of India's deadliest storms, including a super cyclone that killed nearly 10,000 people when it hit Odisha in October 1999.

India has since built up early-warning systems and evacuation plans aimed at cutting the death toll from such storms. The scale of this week's evacuation, rising from about 50,000 on Monday night to more than 180,000 by Wednesday, shows that system in action.

Nepal is also on alert. Authorities there have warned tourists against high-altitude areas and suspended trekking permits for three days, fearing Arnab could bring heavy rain, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayas from Thursday night to Saturday. That warning comes as Nepal is still recovering from a flash flood in August that killed about 1,500 people, and after an earlier Nepal flood stranded more than 100 foreign trekkers in Gorkha.

Reactions and Statements

Andhra Pradesh disaster officials said evacuation work was continuing through Tuesday as the storm strengthened. "Evacuation is continuing," the state's disaster management chief Prakhar Jain told Reuters on Tuesday.

On the ground, residents described a frightening night. "No one knew whose house the water would rush into next, or whose home would be submerged," said Nagi, a resident of Kakinada district in Andhra Pradesh. "Trees have fallen, houses have been damaged, and all our belongings, including our books, have been destroyed."

Fishermen along the coast were told not to venture into the sea, and the weather department warned of damage to crops, thatched houses and communication lines.

Why This News Matters

For Pakistan, a cyclone on India's east coast is closer than it looks. Storms from the Bay of Bengal can swing west and north, and their rain systems affect weather across the subcontinent. Pakistani readers with family, trade or travel links to India also follow these storms closely.

The bigger lesson is about preparation. The contrast with 1999, when nearly 10,000 people died in Odisha, and today, when 180,000 people were moved before landfall with no deaths reported so far, shows what early warnings and mass evacuation can do. It is a point worth noting for Pakistan's own flood and monsoon planning, where early evacuation saves lives too, as the recent Khuzdar earthquake response in Balochistan also showed.

For the region, the next 48 hours matter as much as landfall itself. Heavy rain inland, swollen rivers and the Himalayan risk in Nepal will decide whether Arnab ends as a storm that was managed, or one that still claims lives after the winds drop.

Future Developments

Watch for three things. First, the official damage and casualty update from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha once survey teams reach the worst-hit coastal areas, a task rescue workers know well from disasters such as the Multan plaza collapse rescue operation. Second, whether the storm's inland rain triggers flooding further north. Third, the Nepal warning for Thursday night to Saturday, when heavy rain and snow are feared in the high mountains.

If the no-deaths picture holds, Arnab will stand as a rare case of a very severe cyclone met by an evacuation on a matching scale. If inland flooding follows, the focus will shift fast from the coast to the rivers.

Sources

• Al Jazeera: Cyclone Arnab makes landfall in India's Andhra Pradesh
• Reuters via GMA News: India evacuates over 180,000 as Cyclone Arnab hits coast
• Al Jazeera: India evacuates tens of thousands as very severe Cyclone Arnab nears

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