Cyclone Arnab makes landfall on Andhra coast; storm surge alert in place

Cyclone Arnab began its landfall process early Wednesday (Oct 27) along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts, bringing torrential downpours to the region, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The cyclone, as per an IMD alert issued at 0130 hours, maintained a core intensity of 125 to 135 kmph, gusting up to 150 kmph. Having moved northwestwards at 3 kmph over the past three hours, the storm is expected to move slowly northwestwards initially before tracking north-northwestwards. "Landfall process will continue for the next 3 hours," the IMD said in its bulletin.

The landfall point is specified between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, to the south of Yanam. Surface winds over the landfall area are expected to hold at 125 to 135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph during the next three hours, before gradually decreasing, the weather department said.

Also read | Cyclone Arnab: Landfall likely between 2-4 am in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday

Storm surge and rainfall

The IMD has issued a major inundation alert, stating that a storm surge of 1.5 to 2.5 metres above astronomical tide is very likely to submerge low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh, with the maximum peak surge expected near Kakinada and Yanam in the Puducherry Union Territory.

Extreme heavy rainfall exceeding 200 mm was recorded across several locations in Anakapalli and Visakhapatnam districts between 0830 hrs on October 27 and 0300 hrs on October 28.

Damage reports

In the wake of the landfall, multiple trees were uprooted, and power lines snapped across various locations in Andhra Pradesh's Kakinada. Heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds also uprooted trees, blocking Beach Road and Seethammadhara in Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam.

Heavy rain and gusty winds lashed several parts of West Bengal as an impact of Cyclone Arnab.

Also read | Cyclone Arnab intensifies into very severe cyclonic storm, red alert in Andhra

Odisha warnings

In Odisha, the IMD has issued severe weather warnings, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at one or two locations over the districts of Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Koraput, Nawarangpur, and Malkangiri. These areas are also very likely to experience thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty surface winds reaching 60 to 80 kmph, gusting to 90 kmph.

Under an orange warning, heavy to very heavy rainfall has been predicted for Kalahandi, Kandhamala, Nuapada, Balangir, Bargarh, Puri, Khordha, Sonepur, Boudh, and Nayagarh, alongside thunderstorms and gusty winds reaching 40 to 50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph.

Additionally, a yellow warning has been issued, forecasting heavy rainfall at one or two places across Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghapur, and Cuttack, accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty surface winds of 30 to 40 kmph, gusting to 50 kmph, effective from October 28 until 8:30 pm on October 29.