Cyclone Arnab arrives with a sign of destruction, batters Andhra and Odisha coast at the speed of 150km/h.

CYCLONE ARNAB, developed over Westcentral Bay of Bengal is set to wreak havoc at the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on morning Wednesday, October 28, 2026 as the cyclone began the landfall process( first contact of the eye/center of the cyclone with the land).

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the process will continue for the next few hours with the maximum sustained wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph.

The cyclone was located about 30 kilometre east of Narsapur, 45 kilometre south-southwest of Yanam, 70 kilometre south-southwest of Kakinada and 90 kilometers east-northeast of Machilipatnam, the weather body said in a bulletin.

Earlier the IMD, categorized the cyclone as ‘very Severe,’ the third-highest category on IMD's scale, issued a warning of heavy rainfall "likely over Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam and Odisha during 27th-28th; Chattisgarh on 28th October, 2026.”

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Cyclone Has Disrupted the Daily Normal Life

Several instances of trees and poles got uprooted in the district of Kakinada and Visakhapatnam, Konaseema and Machilipatnam  Andhra Pradesh, were reported, though no major loss of life.

Over 70 trains have been cancelled in the affected region considering the severity of the Cyclone. Coast Railway (SCoR), in a statement, said: “In view of the imminent Cyclone ARNAB and in the interest of passenger safety, Indian Railways decided to cancel/Short Termination/Short Origination of several coaching trains.”

Similarly many airlines have also cancelled their flights to Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada for Wednesday.
A heavy rain, caused by the cyclone has disrupted daily life in several districts of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, has compelled the evacuation of more than 1,80,000 people ahead of the arrival of the cyclone, according to NDTV.

A flash flood alert, according to times of india, has been issued for 15 districts in Andhra Pradesh, including Guntur, Krishna, Konaseema, East Godavari, Kakinada, Alluri, Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam. The weather department also issued an advisory related to the flash floods that could occur at any time and advised residents to stay behind their doors until the landfall process is due.

With an inevitable coming of the storm, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, have begun their preparation in a full-blown manner, including school closures, fishing bans, implementation of evacuations methods and deployments of emergency response teams. The National Crisis Management Committee assessed the preparedness measures, with Cabinet Secretary T. V. Somanathan instructed  agencies to make sure there is no loss of life and minimum damage to property and infrastructure. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) also said that they have positioned the teams, with additional teams on standby. 

“Cyclone Arnab would weaken from a very severe cyclonic storm to a severe cyclonic storm after crossing the Andhra Pradesh coast, and further into a cyclonic storm by afternoon,” Andhra Pradesh Meteorological Department director K Naga Ratna said.

Wind speeds are also likely to decrease to 90-120kmph and gust speed to 130kmph, after a few hours, and further to 60-70kmph by afternoon, she said. 

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How the Cyclone Got its Name

Bangladesh proposed the name ‘Arnab’ and it was included in the official list of tropical cyclone names adopted in 2020 by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Panel on Tropical Cyclones.

The list includes the names submitted from 13 countries: Bangladesh, India, Iran, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, with each country contributing 13 names which brings the total to 169 names. 

These names are then used, in a sequence to identify a tropical cyclone developed over the North Indian Ocean, of which Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are part of. 

The name Arnab means ‘Ocean’ or ‘Sea’ in Bengali. By naming these cyclones it helps to separate an individual weather system and track their development. It also saves from the confusion when many such storms appear at the same time.

Previously dana cyclone, in October, 2024 struck the coast of Odisha which damaged around 1800 houses and over 180,000 hectares of land bearing crops and vegetables destroyed.

[Rh/GS]

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