Visakhapatnam: Cyclone Arnab, which made landfall near Yanam, Puducherry, has claimed three lives in Andhra Pradesh till now. At least 31 houses have suffered damaged, a senior National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officer said on Wednesday.
Disaster response and rescue teams of the Centre and those of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are now bracing to tackle the effects of rainfall, which is expected to continue in the two states and adjoining areas, NDRF Inspector General (IG) Narendra Singh Bundela told reporters during a press briefing.
After making landfall, Arnab has weakened from a very serious cyclonic storm to a severe cyclonic storm. It is estimated that it will gradually lose strength to convert into a cyclonic storm and finally into a deep depression by the evening, he said.
“North of Andhra Pradesh and the southern part of Odisha have been the most affected due to Cyclone Arnab. Strong winds and rainfall are being witnessed in a few districts of the two states,” Bundela said.
“Andhra Pradesh has been the most affected… we have been informed that trees have been uprooted, 31 houses of various types have been damaged and three persons have been killed. There has not been a serious impact in Odisha as per preliminary reports,” he said.
A total of 39 NDRF teams have been deployed in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, along with neighbouring Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Telangana and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were expected to be affected due to the cyclone, the IG said.
Four additional NDRF teams were sent to Andhra Pradesh last night, Bundela said, adding that about 57,000 people were shifted to relief camps in Andhra Pradesh and 38 were evacuated from Yanam last night.
The IMD, in a post on X, said the cyclone crossed the coast between 2 am and 8 am on October 28, with its centre moving completely over land by 8 am.
The system was centred over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam and the adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal at 8:30 am, around 20 km east-northeast of Narsapur, 40 km southwest of Yanam, 60 km southwest of Kakinada, 90 km east-northeast of Machilipatnam, 120 km east of Gannavaram and 120 km southwest of Tuni, the IMD said.
The Andhra Pradesh government has been placed on high alert in view of Cyclone Arnab, with the state administration working round the clock to safeguard lives and minimise property damage, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) stated on Wednesday.
