Cyclone Arnab hits India's southeast coast; no deaths reported yet

Cyclone Arnab slammed into India’s southeastern coast on Wednesday with fierce winds and heavy rain, but there were no initial reports of deaths, a senior official said. Dawn reported the landfall, citing AFP.

Landfall and warnings

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Arnab hit Andhra Pradesh as a “very severe cyclonic storm”, with winds of 115 to 125 kilometres an hour and gusts reaching 140 kph, in an update at 8:30am local time. It warned of flash floods along the coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu said there had been no reported deaths. His office said he was satisfied that “no loss of life occurred due to the proactive measures taken”, and he thanked officials who had “worked tirelessly throughout the night”. About 50,000 people in Andhra Pradesh were told to move to safer places, along with another 48,000 in neighbouring Odisha.

Overnight in Kakinada

Gales battered trees and rain lashed the port city of Kakinada, close to the storm’s centre, and powerful waves crashed onto the shore overnight. By dawn residents were out on flooded streets looking at what seemed to be limited damage. “Thank God, there was not as much damage this time,” said Hussain, a 43-year-old businessman. “The sea is very rough, several trees have fallen, and sheds and hoardings have been damaged.” The government declared a two-day school holiday, so people were staying indoors.

Sadiq, 40, said the situation had become “very dangerous” on Tuesday night, but early warnings had helped people prepare. “Many people locked their houses and moved to safer places,” he told AFP. In a government shelter near Kakinada, 65-year-old Rajeshwari said: “Our homes get flooded, and we have to stay in the water.”

Neighbours on alert

The storm’s reach goes well beyond the coast. Sri Lanka closed schools after its meteorological department warned of flash floods and mudslides. Nepal’s disaster authority said the storm would move inland towards the Himalayas and bring heavy rain and a “high risk of heavy snowfall, snowstorms and avalanches”. Nepal is still recovering from a catastrophic flood on August 26, triggered by a glacial mountain collapse, which killed more than 1,400 people and left over 5,000 missing, AFP said.

Cyclones, which are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the Pacific, are a regular danger in the Bay of Bengal and the northern Indian Ocean. This season, AFP noted, the El Nino weather pattern has contributed to unprecedented warming and made storms stronger.

What the early figures tell us, and what they don’t

The absence of deaths in the first hours is a good sign, and the number of people moved, close to 100,000 in two states, suggests the evacuation was large. But it is early. The reports do not give the extent of the damage to homes, crops or power lines, and flood warnings were still in force along the coast. Nepal and parts of the Himalayan region have yet to feel the storm’s remains, and officials there are worried about snow and avalanches, not only rain.

The next updates will be the IMD’s, on flooding, and Nepal’s authority, on the storm’s passage over the mountains.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn and AFP.