Cyclone Arnab is now a very severe cyclone over the Bay of Bengal, and its landfall is expected on Wednesday morning, October 28. The India Meteorological Department forecasts that the storm will cross the coast near Yanam, between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, with steady winds of 115 to 125 kilometres per hour and gusts of up to 140 kilometres per hour. Andhra Pradesh has stationed 15 National Disaster Response Force teams and released 27 crore rupees for relief work, while Odisha has prepared more than 1,700 cyclone shelters and placed rescue personnel in its southern districts. Both states have restricted fishing, schools have been shut in affected areas, and officials are preparing for heavy rain and strong winds.
Where the risk is highest
The forecast path puts coastal communities and low lying areas at particular risk. Red alerts cover several districts in Andhra Pradesh, including Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, East Godavari, West Godavari, Eluru, Krishna and Guntur, with warnings covering October 27 and 28. Authorities have warned of possible inundation in low lying areas near Kakinada and Yanam from a storm surge, and the Visakhapatnam district administration identified 37 villages across 11 mandals as potentially affected, arranging 54 relief camps. In Andhra Pradesh, around 570,000 people living in high risk coastal and low lying areas were identified for evacuation, with the process scheduled to begin on Monday evening. Yanam itself has drawn close attention because it sits near the predicted landfall point, but forecasters stress that the precise crossing point can still shift, and residents should follow the latest official bulletins rather than a single forecast map.
Odisha prepares for the storm next door
Odisha is not the expected landfall state, yet it is preparing as if it were. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said the state would take no chances despite the storm being forecast to make landfall in Andhra Pradesh, reiterating a zero casualty goal. Schools, colleges and childcare centres in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri will close on October 28 and 29, a red alert covers those districts on October 28, and isolated rainfall of more than 20 centimetres is possible. Odisha has banned fishing at sea, barred tourists from hills, waterfalls and dams in six southern districts, sent eight ministers to vulnerable districts, and deployed around 60 state disaster response teams and 17 national teams alongside 225 fire service teams on high alert. The Cyclone Arnab landfall forecast shows why both states are moving at once: a storm of this strength does not respect a state border, and the rain, wind and surge it brings will test preparations in both states before the week is out.
