Preparations intensified on Tuesday for Cyclone Arnab, with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) saying 31 teams had been deployed across five states and the Union Territory of Yanam to support evacuation and relief operations ahead of the storm's expected landfall on Wednesday morning, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida held a meeting in Rayagada with district officials, NDRF and Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) personnel and fire services teams. NDRF Deputy Inspector General Mohsen Shahedi said meetings at the National Disaster Management Authority and Cabinet Secretary level had aimed at a zero-casualty approach.

Shahedi said 12 NDRF teams were in Andhra Pradesh, nine in Odisha, four in Chhattisgarh, three in Telangana and two in Yanam, with about 11 State Disaster Response Force teams also deployed in Andhra Pradesh and other areas. Evacuation plans were ready and the process was already under way in low-lying areas at risk of flooding, he said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast that Arnab would cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, by Wednesday forenoon as a very severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained winds of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph. IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra warned of possible power and communication disruption, damage to standing paddy and horticulture crops, and a storm surge of 1 to 1.5 metres in East Godavari district.

Source: IMD via The Watchers

In Visakhapatnam, officials said six of the city's 10 zones were highly vulnerable, 57 rehabilitation centres had been identified and residents of 122 low-lying areas were being asked to shift to relief centres. The South Central Railway's Vijayawada Division cancelled 53 local trains and 11 long-distance trains as a precaution, ANI reported. In Odisha's Ganjam district, Gopalpur Port sheltered around 34 fishing boats from Andhra Pradesh, and fishing was banned from October 26 to 29.