Cyclone Arnab landfall nears Andhra coast as shelters fill

Thousands of people have left low-lying villages along India's eastern coast as Cyclone Arnab closes in, with Cyclone Arnab landfall expected near the Andhra Pradesh coast on Wednesday morning. Television pictures showed waves breaking over empty beaches and shuttered shops in towns already feeling the storm's outer bands, a day after the system strengthened over the Bay of Bengal. The storm formed over the bay and intensified through Monday, according to India's weather office, before turning toward the coast. The system is the first major storm of the season to threaten this stretch of coast, and officials have been preparing since it began to strengthen.

According to the India Meteorological Department, the storm was moving west-northwest and was expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, by Wednesday morning. Forecasters put sustained winds at landfall at 125 to 135 kilometres per hour, with gusts reaching 150 kilometres per hour, and warned of isolated extremely heavy rain across coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam. The department's bulletins tracked the system through the day as it edged closer to shore, with rain and strong winds already reported in coastal districts.

Shelters fill as trains stop and schools close

Nearly fifty thousand people had been moved to shelters from vulnerable areas by Monday night, out of an estimated four hundred thousand expected to need evacuation, Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, told Reuters. Evacuation work was still under way on Tuesday, Jain said, while neighbouring Odisha had not yet begun moving residents but had closed schools and colleges in five districts for Tuesday and Wednesday. Authorities in Andhra Pradesh opened more than two thousand cyclone shelters across coastal districts and placed national and state disaster response teams on standby, while mobile alerts went out to subscribers across the state.

Transport took a hit as well. At least a dozen trains were cancelled in the east, and rail services on dozens of routes along the southern coast were suspended for Tuesday and Wednesday, regional railway authorities said in social media posts. Strong winds and rain were already being felt in Kakinada district, where local officials reported trees down and streets emptying as the storm approached. Fishermen were told to stay ashore, and officials said every fishing boat in the state had returned to harbour before the storm arrived.

Nepal watches the mountains as the storm moves inland

The danger does not stop at the coast. In Nepal, authorities cautioned tourists against heading into high altitude areas, warning that the system could bring torrential downpours, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayan region from Thursday night through Saturday. The warning lands as the country is still recovering from a deadly flash flood in August that killed about 1,500 people, according to Reuters. Nepal's mountains are especially exposed when a Bay of Bengal system pushes moisture north, turning heavy rain into snow at altitude and raising the risk of slides on trekking routes.

Andhra Pradesh has been here before. A cyclone in 1977 killed at least ten thousand people along this same stretch of coast, and the lesson of that disaster shaped the shelters, warning systems and evacuation plans now in use. Early warnings, staffed shelters and timely evacuation are the reason a very severe cyclone is now a logistics exercise before it becomes a tragedy, and officials say the coming hours will test that preparation again. The state government, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has been monitoring the response through its disaster management authority and real-time governance centre.

Forecasters expect the storm to weaken once it moves inland, but the rain threat will travel with it. Extremely heavy rain is forecast for parts of Odisha and Chhattisgarh after landfall, and heavy rain could reach further inland in the days that follow. For now, officials are urging coastal residents to stay in shelters, keep clear of the shore, and follow instructions from local authorities until the storm has passed. Danger signals have been hoisted at ports along the Andhra coast, and port warnings remain in force while the storm crosses land. Updates are expected through Wednesday morning as Cyclone Arnab landfall unfolds and its track becomes clear.

See also: climate emergency coverage.

Sources: Reuters report on evacuations ahead of Cyclone Arnab and India Meteorological Department bulletin coverage.