Cyclone Arnab makes landfall in Andhra Pradesh

Cyclone Arnab began making landfall in Andhra Pradesh early on Wednesday as a very severe cyclonic storm, with forecast winds of 125 to 135 kilometres an hour gusting to 150 and a storm surge of 1.5 to 2.5 metres, and no loss of life reported so far.

Why it matters: Andhra Pradesh officials put evacuations at more than 84,000 people ahead of the storm, and the toll for crops, power networks and coastal roads will only emerge as the system moves inland and weakens.

Data as of Correction 2026-10-28T00:51:04-04:00: an earlier version of this item, published minutes earlier in this run, stated that about 1.1 million people had moved into relief camps, attributed to an Associated Press report via Euronews. That Euronews article could not in fact be loaded in this run (the browser refused it as policy denied, confirmed in the run's final browser report), and no other source corroborates the 1.1 million figure; it is withdrawn. India Meteorological Department wind and storm surge forecasts and the Andhra Pradesh chief minister's office statement that no loss of life had been reported are as reported by Reuters via The Hindu BusinessLine on October 28, 2026 and read in full in this run; the evacuation total of more than 84,000 people in Andhra Pradesh is the state figure as reported by Indian press coverage, including The Daily Jagran's live coverage, read via search results in this run. The IMD's own bulletin was not read directly in this run; the department is logged in SOURCES-TO-IMPLEMENT.md from this run. Developing item.

Cyclone Arnab started making landfall in India’s Andhra Pradesh state in the early hours of Wednesday, bringing high winds and heavy rain that uprooted trees and disrupted power supply. The India Meteorological Department forecast winds of 125 to 135 kilometres an hour, gusting to 150, over the landfall area, and a storm surge of 1.5 to 2.5 metres above normal tide likely to inundate low lying areas of the state. Andhra Pradesh officials put evacuations at more than 84,000 people, schools were closed across coastal districts, and some train and flight services were cancelled, and the Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s office said no loss of life had been reported so far.

Cyclone Arnab makes landfall in Andhra Pradesh

Sources