Vizag shuts RK Beach Road, 21 flights are cancelled and Odisha and Andhra race to evacuate thousands before the very severe storm arrives
Visakhapatnam, October 27: Very severe cyclonic storm Arnab is moving faster than forecast. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has advanced its expected landfall to between 2 am and 4 am on Wednesday, October 28, as its outer bands began lashing the Andhra Pradesh coast on Tuesday evening.
The storm is expected to cross the coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, with sustained winds of 115-125 kmph and gusts of up to 140 kmph. Heavy to very heavy rain is forecast over coastal Andhra and Yanam, followed by Odisha on October 28, Chhattisgarh on October 28-29 and east Uttar Pradesh on October 29.
With the earlier timeline, both states are speeding up evacuations. Odisha aims to move about 48,000 people to safety, and nearly 4,000 shelters have been set up across the two states, with emergency teams on standby. In Visakhapatnam, RK Beach Road has been closed, parts of the city have faced power cuts, and residents have been told to stay indoors.
Travel has been badly hit. Twenty-one flights were cancelled at Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam airports, and Air India has warned of further disruptions. South Coast Railway has cancelled 53 trains on October 27-28, and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reviewed preparedness.
The storm’s effects will reach far inland. Schools in Ranchi and West Singhbhum in Jharkhand will stay shut, while Delhi and eastern Rajasthan may see rain later this week. The Odisha government has also asked the media not to spread speculative forecasts.
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