Follow-Up: Cyclone Arnab Completes Landfall in Andhra Pradesh and Weakens; More Than 180,000 Evacuated Across Two States, No Deaths Reported
Very severe cyclonic storm Arnab completed its landfall along India's Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts, between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam and close to south of Yanam, between about 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time on Wednesday, October 28, with maximum sustained winds of 125 to 135 kilometres per hour and gusts up to 150 kilometres per hour, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, according to Reuters. By 8:30 a.m. the system had weakened into a severe cyclonic storm. GSM previously reported that Arnab formed over the Bay of Bengal on October 26 and steadily intensified, with Andhra Pradesh listing 570,000 people as vulnerable and beginning evacuations on Monday evening.
Authorities in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Odisha evacuated more than 180,000 people ahead of the storm, including more than 84,000 moved into relief shelters in Andhra Pradesh. No deaths had been reported in either state as of publication. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu monitored relief operations through the night and held a teleconference on Wednesday morning with some 32,000 personnel, directing that fallen trees be cleared and traffic restored within two hours and that preliminary crop-damage estimates be prepared.
Coastal districts recorded extreme rainfall: Visakhapatnam received 315 mm by 8:30 a.m., followed by Vizianagaram with 301 mm, Anakapalli 275 mm, Srikakulam 257 mm and Krishna 223 mm, while Koraput in Odisha recorded 188 mm. Strong winds uprooted trees and damaged power infrastructure, disrupting electricity supplies; schools were closed, flights to Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada were cancelled, and several train services were suspended.
The weather department warned that the storm surge could inundate low-lying coastal areas by 1.5 to 2.5 metres above the astronomical tide in the hours after landfall, and that heavy rainfall would continue across affected areas on Wednesday and Thursday as the system moved inland. Rescue and cleanup work continued as officials assessed the damage; consolidated official loss figures had not yet been released.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 印度安得拉邦Visakhapatnam海岸与孟加拉湾（自Kailasagiri山俯瞰），该市为本轮气旋降雨最重的城市之一，截至10月28日上午降雨315毫米。照片：eclicks_by_bunny，CC BY-SA 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons。
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