Cyclone Arnab LIVE: Amit Shah speaks with CMs of affected States, assures all support

Six fishing boats were damaged or sunk at the Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour when gale-force winds hit the city on the night of October 27 and 28. Inspector-General of Police (Coastal Security) Gopinath Jetty inspected the harbour on Thursday with Fisheries Department officials and boat owners. He asked fishermen to follow weather warnings, anchor their boats securely and stay off the sea in bad weather.

– V. Kamalakara Rao

A stretch of black sand at Bhimili beach near Visakhapatnam on Thursday, after Cyclone Arnab’s waves churned up the shore. 

Photo:K.R. Deepak

The new system over the Andaman Sea could bring another spell of heavy rain to coastal Andhra Pradesh on November 1 and 2, IMD officials in Amaravati said on Thursday. An expert at the Cyclone Warning Centre in Visakhapatnam said there was a possibility of another cyclone, but it was too early to be sure. Rayalaseema is unlikely to get much rain this time either.

Arnab’s two days of rain have wiped out the shortfall in north Andhra, but much of the State is still short of its normal rain for the season. – Sravani Nellore

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu conducted an aerial survey of flooded paddy, banana and coconut plantations and aqua ponds in Krishna, West Godavari and Konaseema districts on Thursday to assess the damage from Cyclone Arnab. 

An Indian Coast Guard helicopter began rescuing stranded people in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Thursday afternoon, the State’s Special Relief Commissioner told PTI. Fifty-four teams from the NDRF, the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and the Fire Service are also working on the ground.

Srikakulam district got the most rain in Andhra Pradesh in the 24 hours to 8.30 a.m. on Thursday, according to the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES-AP). Kanchili mandal recorded 248.5 mm, and gauges in Ichchapuram recorded between 218 mm and 238 mm. The district as a whole averaged about 102 mm.

In the 24 hours to 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday (October 28), the heaviest rain had fallen further south, in Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram. Thirty-nine stations there got more than 204.5 mm, which falls in the ‘extremely heavy’ category. 

Thursday has been much drier. By 3 p.m., Palasa had the most rain in the State, at about 41 mm.

The swollen Bahuda has forced the railways to cancel nine trains and divert 14 on the Howrah-Chennai route on Thursday, the East Coast Railway said. The Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express, the Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Intercity Express and the Visakha Express to Secunderabad are among those cancelled. Water is flowing above the danger mark at two railway bridges between Ichchapuram and Jhadupudi.

About 550 mm of rain in Odisha’s Ganjam district pushed the Baghalati dam on the Bahuda past its danger mark, the railway said. – PTI

The weather system now over the Andaman Sea is expected to gather strength in the next two days, the IMD said on Thursday. By around October 31, it should grow into a depression. After that, it is likely to strengthen further and move towards the Andhra Pradesh coast over the following two days.

What is left of Arnab, meanwhile, has moved deep inland. It was about 110 km south of Raipur in Chhattisgarh by late Thursday morning, IMD said.

Heavy rain is likely in six Jharkhand districts, Garhwa, Palamu, Latehar, Lohardaga, Gumla and Simdega, till 8.30 a.m. on Friday, the IMD said. Gudabanda in East Singhbhum recorded 71.4 mm of rain since Wednesday evening, the highest in the State. Ranchi got 26.2 mm.

About 2,000 people have been cut off by floodwater in Odisha’s Ganjam district, State Chief Secretary Anu Garg said on Thursday. The State plans to airlift around 100 villagers from Sanakhemundi, Asika and the Gopalpur area first. Indian Coast Guard helicopters are on standby, but rain and low clouds are holding back flights.

More than 200 villages in 22 blocks of Ganjam and Gajapati districts have been badly hit. A stretch of National Highway 326 linking Ganjam with Mohana has been washed away.

A new low-pressure area formed over the south Andaman Sea on Thursday morning, a day after Cyclone Arnab crossed the coast. The IMD expects it to strengthen and become a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal by October 31. Officials in Amaravati said it would “most likely” affect Andhra Pradesh.

Arnab itself has weakened into a depression over south Chhattisgarh and south Odisha and is expected to fade further by Thursday evening.

Floodwater from an overflowing rivulet rose above the danger mark at a railway bridge between Ichchapuram and Jhadupudi on Thursday morning. The Brahmapur-Visakhapatnam passenger and express trains and the Visakhapatnam-Brahmapur passenger have been cancelled. Several long-distance trains, including the Falaknuma Express to Howrah, are being diverted via Vizianagaram and Titlagarh, skipping Srikakulam Road, Palasa and Bhubaneswar.

The Nagavali at Srikakulam was just 1 cm below its warning level at noon on Thursday and still rising, Water Resources Department data showed. Rivers across Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Parvathipuram Manyam districts kept swelling though the skies had cleared. The Bahuda, fed by water released from a dam in Odisha, sent floodwater into the border town of Ichchapuram. 

Rain and squally winds lashed parts of West Bengal on Thursday (October 29, 2026) as the “very severe” cyclonic storm Arnab weakened into a depression and lay centred over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining south Odisha.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the depression is likely to weaken to a well-marked low pressure by Thursday evening (October 29, 2026), bringing heavy rain in West Bengal till Friday (October 30, 2026).

It also noted that a fresh low pressure formed over the South Andaman Sea on Thursday morning. The weather system is likely to intensify into a depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal as it moves in a west-northwestward direction, the weather office said.

– PTI

Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Odisha and Chhattisgarh in the wake of Cyclone Arnab, and assured all assistance to mitigate the hardships of the people.

“It is very likely to move north-northwestwards during the next 48 hours and weaken gradually. It will weaken into a deep depression by midnight of October 28, 2026,” the IMD said.

Mr. Shah said teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) have sprung into action and are continuing rescue and relief operations on a war footing.

“In the wake of Cyclone Arnab, spoke with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Odisha and Chhattisgarh and assured them of every assistance to mitigate the hardship of the people in the face of the disaster,” he said on X.

– PTI

Rain intensified in parts of Jharkhand on Thursday, and the weather department has issued an alert for a downpour till next morning under the influence of “very severe” cyclonic storm Arnab that made landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast on Wednesday.

Gudabanda in East Singhbhum district recorded the highest 71.4 mm rainfall since Wednesday evening, followed by Manjhari in West Singhbhum district at 64 mm, the weather department here said.

Ranchi registered 26.2 mm of rainfall, while Chaibasa recorded 60 mm of rain during the period.

“Rain will continue on Thursday, with some districts experiencing heavy to very heavy rainfall. However, the impact will vary by region. For instance, the effect will be less pronounced in the Santhal region, where there is no alert for heavy rainfall,” said Abhishek Anand, the deputy director at the Ranchi Meteorological Centre.

– PTI

With heavy rain and gale under the influence of very severe cyclonic storm Arnab leaving a trail of destruction in Visakhapatnam, the candidates in the fray for the civic body polls in the city have shifted focus from electioneering to relief and restoration work.

The candidates belonging to the ruling alliance and opposition parties, who were busy in hectic campaign in the run-up to the civic body polls scheduled for November 1, visited the affected neighbourhoods to assist the residents and coordinate efforts to restore essential services.

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A day after various parts of Telangana received rain under the impact of cyclonic storm Arnab, isolated places in 12 districts are likely to receive thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds on Thursday (October 29). The very severe cyclonic storm crossed Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts on Wednesday morning, before weakening into a severe cyclonic storm.

The 12 districts where thunderstorms have been forecast are Kumaram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial, Rajanna Sircilla, Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Khammam, Mahabubabad, Warangal and Hanumakonda districts, as per the India Meteorological Department-Hyderabad Centre’s latest weather bulletin.

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With severe cyclonic storm Arnab making landfall along the Andhra coast, rainfall activity is likely to ease considerably across Keralam. With the rains subsiding, daytime temperatures are expected to rise noticeably across the State. The dry spell is likely to persist until another weather system develops over the Bay of Bengal, with the mercury expected to climb during the intervening period.

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Cyclone Arnab brought back grim memories of ‘Cyclone Hudhud’, which battered the city 12 years ago. Although ‘Arnab’ was less severe and did not make landfall in the city, the strong winds through the night, extensive damage to the city’s green cover, uprooted electric poles, prolonged power outages and disrupted mobile network connectivity reminded residents of the destruction caused by Hudhud in October 2014.

Residents took to social media to compare their experiences of the two cyclones. People recalled sleepless nights, prolonged power cuts and following the district administration’s instructions to remain indoors unless faced with an emergency.

Telangana Deputy Chief Minister and Energy Minister Bhatti Vikramarka spoke to Andhra Pradesh Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar over the phone on Wednesday to enquire about the impact of Cyclone Arnab.

Mr. Vikramarka assured Andhra Pradesh of the Telangana government’s full support in dealing with the situation. He said Telangana was ready to provide personnel and essential materials for restoring the damaged power supply infrastructure, if required.

Mr. Ravi Kumar briefed Mr. Vikramarka on the relief and restoration operations being carried out under the guidance of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and thanked the Telangana government for its support.

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Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC) has postponed polling for the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) and Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) elections from November 3 to November 5 because the counting of votes for the urban local body (ULB) elections is to be done on November 3 under the revised schedule.

In a press release on Wednesday (October 28, 2026), State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said that after an assessment of the situation created by Cyclone Arnab, and on the basis of assurances given by the Collectors and District Election Authorities of the cyclone-affected districts, it was decided not to change the November 1 polling date for the ULBs.

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All major rivers, rivulets, seasonal streams across Srikakulam, Parvatipuram-Manyam and Vizianagaram districts were in spate after their catchment areas received huge inflow of waters under the impact of the very severe cyclonic storm Arnab that crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast near Yanam, in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to data provided by the Srikakulam district administration, the average rainfall in normal conditions is only 136.5 mm but the district received 4,094.2 mm rainfall between 8 a.m. on Tuesday and 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall in the district and upstream catchment areas led to increased inflows into the rivers Vamsadhara, Nagavali, Mahindra Tanaya, Bahuda and others.

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the cyclonic storm Arnab has weakened into a deep depression and is “very likely” to further weaken into a depression today (October 29, 2026) and then into a well marked low pressure area in the evening.

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Visakhapatnam district administration on Wednesday announced that all educational institutions in the district will be closed on Thursday in the aftermath of Cyclone Arnab, while District Collector M. Abhishikth Kishore has directed officials to expedite the restoration of electricity, drinking water, sanitation, healthcare and road connectivity to restore normalcy.

At least 554 people were staying at 15 relief centres across the district as of Wednesday, including 260 in Pendurthi. All pregnant women had been shifted to local hospitals as a precautionary measure, officials said.

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has sought the Centre’s assistance in dealing with the impact of Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab, which crossed the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts on Wednesday morning, causing extensive damage to crops, houses, roads and power infrastructure in several coastal districts.

Mr. Naidu spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the phone and apprised him of the cyclone and its impact on the State.

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Cyclone Arnab claimed five lives in Andhra Pradesh, prompting Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to announce a comprehensive relief and compensation package for affected families, farmers, fishermen and businesses.

Expressing condolences to the bereaved families, he said the government had made extensive efforts to minimise casualties and property damage.

Addressing a press conference at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the Chief Minister identified the deceased as Amrapinni Devmud and Kolamuru Madhavi from the Visakhapatnam region, Chukkala Kishore from Bhimavaram, Bhagyalakshmi from Anakapalli and Kollu Venkayamma from Sakretipalli.

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Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) said 17 districts of Odisha had been affected by heavy rainfall triggered by severe cyclonic storm Arnab, which crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast early in the day.

The State government is prepared to deal with any eventuality, as the cyclonic system is expected to bring heavy rainfall until the morning of October 29 before weakening.

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