Amaravati, Oct 27: Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab was centred about 300 km from Visakhapatnam on Tuesday morning as it moved west-northwestwards at 25 kmph over the past six hours, and 16 districts of Andhra Pradesh have been placed on high alert ahead of its landfall near Yanam on Wednesday morning, ANI reported, citing the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA).
Source: ANI via Latestly
According to the IMD bulletin reported on Tuesday morning, the storm lay about 300 km southeast of Visakhapatnam, 360 km east-southeast of Kakinada, 380 km south of Gopalpur in Odisha, 460 km east of Machilipatnam and 530 km east of Bapatla. APSDMA Managing Director Prakhar Jain said the cyclone will keep moving west-northwestwards until Tuesday evening before turning northwestwards towards the coast, ANI reported.
Source: IMD bulletin via Hyderabad Mail
Preliminary assessments cited by ANI indicate that 16 districts, covering 2,460 revenue villages and 92 urban areas, fall directly in the cyclone's path. An orange alert is in force for Visakhapatnam, where light rain has already begun, and thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds of 50-60 kmph were forecast over the next three hours for Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Anakapalli.
Source: ANI via Latestly
The IMD expects Arnab to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm and cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, by the forenoon of October 28, with maximum sustained winds of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places along the coast.
Source: IMD bulletin via Hyderabad Mail
Andhra Pradesh has identified about 5.7 lakh (570,000) people in vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas, with evacuations beginning on Monday evening and boats called back to shore, Reuters reported. In neighbouring Odisha, schools and colleges in five southern districts are closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, and residents of low-lying areas are being moved to cyclone shelters under the state's zero-casualty policy.
Source: Reuters via Tabla
Arnab is the latest in a series of Bay of Bengal systems to threaten India's east coast. Authorities in both states have kept disaster response teams on standby and have asked residents in the storm's path to follow official advisories as the cyclone closes in over the next 24 hours.