Odisha has evacuated 48,010 people from vulnerable areas, shifted 3,900 pregnant women to hospitals and cancelled around 20 trains as very severe cyclonic storm Arnab approached the Andhra Pradesh coast, with the India Meteorological Department warning of extremely heavy rain in several southern districts.
The cyclone was expected to make landfall between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to and south of Yanam, between 2am and 4am on October 28, according to IMD Bhubaneswar director Manorama Mohanty. She said the storm was interacting with land and its outer spiral band had entered the coast, but there was no change in the forecast track or intensity.
One person died in Odisha’s Puri district after a tree fell on a house in Astaranga block during heavy rain and strong winds. The deceased, identified as 40-year-old Lobhavati Muduli, was cooking when the tree brought down a brick wall, according to the report.
Special relief commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said residents from vulnerable areas in eight southern districts had been moved to 466 shelters. He said the evacuation was largely complete but could be expanded if conditions changed. The state government has placed Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Kalahandi on special alert.
Nabarangpur recorded the highest number of evacuees at 11,270, followed by Gajapati with 11,000 and Malkangiri with 9,850. Ganjam evacuated 6,500 people, Koraput 5,000, Kalahandi 2,415, Nuapada 1,675 and Rayagada 300.
The IMD issued a red warning for Gajapati and Ganjam, forecasting heavy to very heavy rain at a few places and extremely heavy rain exceeding 20 centimetres at isolated locations. The warning was extended for Thursday to Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri. Gusty winds of 50-60 kmph, with gusts touching 70 kmph, were forecast in parts of Koraput and Malkangiri, with similar conditions expected across the wider southern Odisha region the following day.
Rain affected Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Puri and Berhampur, while waterlogging was reported on Puri’s Grand Road and in other low-lying areas of the pilgrim town. Flight operations from Bhubaneswar were largely unaffected, although a nine-seater aircraft travelling from Utkela in Kalahandi to Bhubaneswar was diverted because of afternoon rain.
Several education institutions were ordered shut in Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kalahandi, Puri and Nuapada. Schools and anganwadi centres in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri had already been ordered closed for Wednesday and Thursday.
The cancelled trains included the Rourkela-Jagdalpur, Howrah-Jagdalpur and Visakhapatnam-Koraput expresses, as well as the Secunderabad-Bhubaneswar Express. Disaster-response forces were deployed in vulnerable areas, leave for officials in affected districts was cancelled and officers were instructed to remain at headquarters.
Revenue and disaster management minister Suresh Pujari directed district administrations to maintain shelters and essential services as the state pursued a zero-casualty approach. Round-the-clock control rooms have been activated across the affected districts.
