Cyclone Arnab made landfall near the Andhra Pradesh coast early on Wednesday. The India Meteorological Department said the process is expected to continue for the next few hours. Officials evacuated over 1,80,000 people as the storm brought heavy rain and winds reaching 140 kmph to many districts in the region.
Powerful cyclone Arnab made a landfall near an Andhra Pradesh coast early on Wednesday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) saying the process is expected to continue for the next few hours.
Arnab, classified as a "very severe" cyclonic storm, the third-highest category on IMD's scale, was located over the west central Bay of Bengal close to the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts, the weather body said in a bulletin issued at 6:30 am.
The cyclone was located about 30 kilometre east of Narsapur, 45 kilometre south-southwest of Yanam, 70 kilometre south-southwest of Kakinada and 90 kilometre east-northeast of Machilipatnam.
"The cyclone remains practically stationary, and the landfall process is expected to continue for the next two hours," the IMD said.
Winds of 115-125 kph and gusts of up to 140 kph are forecast, with a storm surge of 1 to 1.5 metres above normal tide likely to inundate low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh, it said.
Over 1.8 Lakh People Evacuated Due To Cyclone Arnab
Cyclone Arnab brought heavy rain to several districts in Andhra and Odisha, which had evacuated more than 1,80,000 people ahead of its arrival.
Visakhapatnam recorded the highest rainfall at 216 mm between 8.30 am on October 27 and 5:30 am on October 28, followed Kalingapatnam at 147 mm, Kakinada at 118, and Machilipatnam at 115.