The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has upgraded the wind speeds of very severe Cyclone Arnab to 125-135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph, at its expected landfall on Wednesday — up from the earlier forecast of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph — The Hindu BusinessLine reported, citing the IMD update.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

At 11:30 am on Tuesday, Arnab lay centred about 170 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam, 180 km east-southeast of Kakinada, 270 km east of Machilipatnam, 350 km east of Bapatla and 370 km south-southwest of Gopalpur in Odisha, the IMD said. The storm maintained its distinctive 'eye' — the relatively calm centre of a cyclone — as it struck a menacing pause very close to the Andhra Pradesh coast at 3:30 pm on Tuesday.

The cyclone is expected to move west-northwestwards on Tuesday evening and then turn northwestwards to cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, as a very severe cyclonic storm by the forenoon of Wednesday, October 28, according to the IMD forecast quoted by Outlook Traveller.

Source: Outlook Traveller (IMD)

Warnings of heavy to extremely heavy rain are in place for Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Kakinada port has hoisted the Great Danger-10 (GD-10) signal, Visakhapatnam and Gangavaram GD-9, and Machilipatnam and Nizamapatnam GD-8, while fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea until Friday, the director of the Cyclone Warning Centre, Visakhapatnam, said.

Authorities in both coastal states are preparing for destructive winds and flooding: Odisha is evacuating people from vulnerable areas, and Andhra Pradesh has stationed 15 NDRF teams and released Rs 27 crore (yaani Rs 0.27 arab) for relief operations, BusinessLine reported. The IMD has warned of destruction of thatched houses, extensive damage to kutcha houses, and damage to power and communication lines, standing crops and plantations.