समाचार Samāchār · India · 28 October 2026

Cyclone Arnab reaches the Andhra coast after over 80,000 are moved to safety

The very severe cyclonic storm began its landfall near Yanam overnight, with winds up to 135 km/h. The test now shifts from warning to restoration.

Cyclone Arnab reached the Andhra Pradesh coast overnight. The India Meteorological Department said the very severe cyclonic storm began its landfall process early on Wednesday along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts. It was expected to cross between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to the south of Yanam. Sustained winds were 125 to 135 km/h with gusts up to 150 km/h.

The state moved people before the wind arrived. More than 80,000 residents of coastal belts were shifted to relief camps and cyclone shelters by Tuesday. NDRF and SDRF teams were placed in vulnerable districts. Dozens of trains across coastal Andhra were cancelled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, warned that Kakinada, Konaseema and West Godavari could see gusts of 125 to 135 km/h in the hours after landfall. The IMD has issued a red warning for extremely heavy rain in parts of Andhra Pradesh. Heavy to very heavy rain is forecast for Odisha, eastern Telangana and Jharkhand on 28 and 29 October.

A forecast that names the landfall zone a day ahead turns a disaster into a logistics problem. That is real progress. Credit goes to the IMD forecasters, the APSDMA team, the district collectors and the NDRF and SDRF crews who moved families in the rain. The harder work starts today. Power lines, roads, rail and port operations along the Godavari delta need to come back fast. Fishing families and farmers will need relief that is quick and simple to claim.

What a founder takes from it: Early warning has become an Indian capability and should be run like infrastructure. Anyone with plants, warehouses or suppliers on the east coast should plan for cyclone weeks the way they plan for the monsoon: backup power, stock buffers and a second route.