New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh will start evacuating vulnerable coastal residents on Monday evening ahead of Cyclone Arnab, after the state government identified 570,000 people — yaani 5 lakh 70 thousand people — as vulnerable to the approaching storm, a senior Andhra Pradesh disaster management official told Reuters on Monday.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse

The cyclone, which formed over the Bay of Bengal and has been intensifying, is expected to make landfall in Andhra Pradesh by Wednesday morning, October 28, with gusts of as much as 140 kmph, India's weather office said, according to the Reuters report. The system is expected to bring heavy to extremely heavy rainfall to Andhra Pradesh's northern and central coastal districts and to southern regions of neighbouring Odisha.

Source: Reuters via Devdiscourse

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the storm moved west-northwestwards over the eastcentral and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal and is very likely to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm, crossing the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam by the forenoon of October 28 with maximum sustained winds of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph, ANI reported, citing the IMD's Bhubaneswar unit.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

5.7 lakhpeople identified as vulnerable in Andhra Pradesh (Reuters)
115-125 kmphexpected sustained winds at landfall on Oct 28 (IMD)
140 kmphexpected gusts at landfall (IMD)

Andhra Pradesh has called for boats at sea to return ashore and ordered speedy restoration of power in case of disruptions, Reuters reported. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had earlier put officials on high alert, directing that all boats at sea return to shore, that control rooms be set up, and that pregnant women be shifted to hospitals in advance so they do not face difficulties if transport and communication are disrupted, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Khelja

In Odisha, the government announced the closure of schools and colleges in five districts for Tuesday and Wednesday and said it was preparing to move residents of low-lying areas to cyclone shelters, according to Reuters. Odisha Inspector General of Police (Central Range) Satyajit Nayak told ANI that superintendents of police in all seven districts of his range had been directed to take preventive measures in coordination with the district administration, ODRAF, the NDRF and other agencies, and that the state had mobilised 225 rescue teams on high alert.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

The Bay of Bengal is one of the world's most active regions for tropical cyclones, and officials in both states said the aim is to complete the movement of people from the most exposed coastal and low-lying areas well before the storm reaches the coast on Wednesday.