Cyclone Arnab highlights: Relief air-dropped in Odishas Ganjam; new system may turn into depression by October 31

Power supply to homes in cyclone-hit areas will be restored by Sunday (November 1, 2026), Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said after visiting Mogalthuru mandal in West Godavari district on Friday.

Farm connections will take four more days, he said. Crops on more than 3.5 lakh hectares have been submerged across the State. About 2,425 km of State roads have been damaged, according to the government. In West Godavari alone, about 12,500 trees, most of them coconut, were uprooted.- T. Appala Naidu

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi surveyed the flood-hit areas of Ganjam and Gajapati districts from the air on Friday, along with Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari. He asked officials to speed up relief and rescue work, repair damaged roads and bridges, restore power and guard against disease once the water recedes.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has asked district Collectors to survey crops damaged by Cyclone Arnab and make sure farmers are compensated on time, officials said on Friday. Videos from several districts show paddy flattened by three days of wind and rain.

State Congress president Deepak Baij alleged that no survey had begun yet. He demanded a one-time compensation of ₹70,518 an acre for farmers whose crops were wiped out.

The low-pressure area over the Andaman Sea moved west-northwest overnight and lay over the south Andaman Sea and the nearby Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Friday morning, the IMD said in an X post. It is expected to become a depression around Saturday (October 31). It will then move towards the Andhra Pradesh coast over the following two days.

South Central Railway has rescheduled four more trains on Friday because of the flooding on the line near Ichchapuram. The Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknuma Express will leave at 2.45 p.m. instead of 8.25 a.m. The Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad Visakha Express will leave at 10.30 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. The CSMT Mumbai-Bhubaneswar Express has been cancelled on October 31.

About 10,000 people from Ichchapuram and nearby villages in Srikakulam district have been moved to relief camps in schools after the Bahuda flooded the area. Many others are still in their flooded homes where the strong current has made rescue hard. Vehicles are yet to be allowed on the Kolkata-Chennai national highway near the town, and power is still out across the Ichchapuram constituency. The water is receding fast, Srikakulam Collector Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar said.

Village and ward secretariat staff in Andhra Pradesh’s cyclone-hit districts are struggling to charge their phones and biometric devices, which they need to verify pensioners’ thumb impressions during the NTR Bharosa pension distribution on Friday. Many villages in the coastal districts have been without power for two days.

Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar on Thursday said that Cyclone Arnab caused an estimated ₹500 crore damage to the power sector and that the government has intensified emergency repairs to the damaged infrastructure, with special focus on Palakollu, Bhimavaram and Narsapur, which bore the brunt of the extreme weather event. 

Inspecting the cyclone-hit areas in Bhimavaram on Thursday, Mr. Ravi Kumar said a comprehensive assessment would provide a clearer picture of the true extent of the damages, and that around 1,700 personnel were engaged in the restoration works, with an additional 500 employees being mobilised from the three DISCOMs. Another 500 electricity employees from Telangana joined the operations. 

In the wake of the devastation caused by Cyclone Arnab, the Congress on Friday (October 30, 2026) called on the Centre to lead coordinated relief and rehabilitation efforts with state governments, ensuring timely assistance through the PMCARES fund to all the affected families.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also urged party workers to extend all possible help to those in distress.

“Deeply distressed by the loss of lives in Andhra Pradesh and the massive disruption to people’s lives in Odisha caused by Cyclone Arnab. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families,” he said on X.

The Union Government must lead coordinated relief and rehabilitation efforts with state governments, ensuring timely assistance through the PMCARES fund to all the affected families, Mr. Kharge said. — PTI

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to expedite restoration works in areas affected by Cyclone Arnab.

The Chief Minister reviewed relief and restoration operations with the Chief Secretary, senior officials and district collectors following an aerial survey of cyclone-affected areas. Officials briefed him on the ground situation and progress of restoration works.

“Officials should speed up power supply restoration and road repairs in cyclone-hit areas and ensure that all essential services are restored at the earliest,” Naidu said in an official release late on Thursday.

The CM directed power utilities to mobilise additional personnel from other regions and states, if necessary and complete repairs within the stipulated timeframe.

He asked officials to continue working until electricity supply was restored to every affected household and village.

Expressing concern over delays in restoring mobile network services, Naidu urged telecom companies to act responsibly and accelerate their restoration efforts.

Rainfall received between October 26 and 29 is estimated to have brought around 380 TMC of water into the state while groundwater levels increased by approximately 44 TMC, officials informed the chief minister.

Under the Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL), electricity supply has been restored in 4,771 of the 5,400 affected villages, while restoration remains pending in 629 villages. — PTI

The Indian Coast Guard on Thursday (October 29) rescued all the 20 crew members of a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier vessel, Sigma Pearl, stranded off the Andhra Pradesh coast in the Bay of Bengal due to rough weather conditions that prevailed due to the very severe cyclonic storm Arnab.

The Coast Guard safely airlifted the crew from the 180-metre-long vessel off the seaside village of Antaravedi in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, an official press release said.

“The Indian Coast Guard safely shifted the 20 crew members stranded in the merchant ship into the Coast Guard ship Sujay,” it said.

-PTI

The two distribution utilities of Telangana have dispatched emergency material along with nearly 2,000 staff to help restoration of power supply in the Arnab cyclone-hit areas in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, following a request from that State.

Several power staff teams were sent to the cyclone-hit areas from Telangana on Tuesday along with some emergency material required for restoration of power supply. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Energy Minister G. Ravi Kumar spoke to their Telangana counterparts A. Revanth Reddy and M. Bhatti Vikramarka, respectively, over phone on Tuesday and sought help in restoration of power supply.

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Heavy rain triggered by cyclone Arnab wreaked havoc in Odisha’s Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts on Thursday (October 29, 2026), washing away roads, marooning villages and triggering landslides, as State officials struggled to restore normalcy.

A stretch of the National Highway 326 connecting Berhampur with Mohana was washed away by swirling floodwaters, disrupting road connectivity. Road infrastructure also suffered extensive damage in Gajapati district. The hilly terrain compounded the situation, as torrents of rainwater rushed downhill into low-lying areas, triggering landslides and damaging infrastructure. At several places, floodwaters flowed over major roads, halting vehicular movement in the two districts.

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As many as 367 babies were born after 3,100 pregnant women were shifted to hospitals as a precautionary measure ahead of very severe cyclonic storm Arnab in Andhra Pradesh.

The health and medical department identified 4,228 pregnant women, including those expected to deliver within two weeks and those with high-risk pregnancies and shifted 3,100 of them to medical facilities ahead of the cyclone.

Of the women shifted, 690 were taken to Primary Health Centres (PHCs), 83 to Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs), 430 to Community Health Centres (CHCs), 442 to area hospitals, 132 to district hospitals, 456 to government medical college hospitals and 762 to private hospitals, it said.

-PTI

Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar on Thursday said that Cyclone Arnab caused an estimated ₹500 crore damage to the power sector and that the government has intensified emergency repairs to the damaged infrastructure, with special focus on Palakollu, Bhimavaram and Narsapur, which bore the brunt of the extreme weather event. 

Inspecting the cyclone-hit areas in Bhimavaram on Thursday, Mr. Ravi Kumar said a comprehensive assessment would provide a clearer picture of the true extent of the damages, and that around 1,700 personnel were engaged in the restoration works, with an additional 500 employees being mobilised from the three DISCOMs. Another 500 electricity employees from Telangana joined the operations. 

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Rail services on the Howrah-Chennai route were disrupted on Thursday (October 29) after the swollen Bahuda river crossed the danger mark at two railway bridges in Odisha’s Ganjam district following heavy rainfall triggered by Cyclone Arnab, officials said.

As many as 36 trains were cancelled, 30 diverted and eight regulated or rescheduled as a precautionary measure to ensure passenger safety.

The East Coast Railway (ECoR) cancelled 24 trains and diverted 22, while the South Coast Railway (SCoR) cancelled 12 trains and diverted eight others.

Eight more trains were regulated or rescheduled, according to officials.

-PTI

As many as 1,192 trees were uprooted across 10 zones under the GVMC due to the impact of Cyclone Arnab in the city. Of these, cutting and removal of branches had been completed for 1,057 trees, while the same works for the remaining 135 trees was still pending, according to GVMC personnel as of 6 p.m. on Thursday. So far, 902 trees had been completely lifted and cleared, while another 290 trees were yet to be removed.

GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg stated that removal operations were being expedited, with the target of completing the clearance of fallen trees from roads by Friday. He further stated that relief and restoration operations were being carried out round-the-clock using 45 earthmovers, tipper vehicles, and additional sanitation workers. He instructed officials to remove the remaining branches, leaves, and other debris after clearing the trees and ensure that the surrounding areas were kept clean.

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (October 29) expressed deep concern over the devastation caused by Cyclone Arnab in Andhra Pradesh and the heavy rainfall and flooding in Odisha, and urged the governments to ensure swift relief and rehabilitation for every affected family.

In a post on X, Mr. Gandhi said, “Deeply concerned by the devastation caused by Cyclone Arnab in Andhra Pradesh and the heavy rainfall and flooding in Odisha.”

The Odisha Government on Thursday (October 29) deployed over 300 teams from different disaster response agencies for rescue operations in flood-hit Ganjam and eight other districts, as cyclone ‘Arnab’ left a trail of destruction in several parts of the state, officials said.

As many as 59,028 people, including 11,882 from Ganjam, have been evacuated to safety after their houses were inundated with floodwater, they said.

State Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said 313 teams comprising nine from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), 60 from the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and 244 from the Fire Services Department, were engaged in the rescue operations.

The evacuated people include 3,001 pregnant women, he said.

-PTI

Andhra Pradesh has suffered an estimated loss of ₹4,600 crore due to Cyclone Arnab as per the preliminary assessment, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on Thursday (October 29).

Mr. Naidu made an aerial survey of cyclone-hit areas in the Krishna and Godavari regions. He inspected the areas on the way to Cheyyeru village in Katrenikona mandal of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district. 

After interacting with flood victims at Gacchakayala Pora village of Mummidivaram mandal, Mr. Naidu told the media that the cyclone preparedness helped check the loss of lives as the casualty was seven.

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