Odisha braces for cyclone Arnab as storm nears

Bhubaneswar: Odisha is bracing for the impact of cyclone Arnab, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting the system to intensify into a cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal on October 26 and move towards the Andhra Pradesh coast by the morning of October 28, leading the state government to step up preparedness measures and set a target of zero casualties.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday said the state government had reviewed the possible impact of the cyclone and assigned specific responsibilities to departments to ensure preparedness ahead of the system's expected landfall.

"We have just concluded a review meeting regarding the impact of cyclone Arnab and the measures to tackle it. According to the Meteorological Department, the cyclone is expected to make landfall on the afternoon of 28 October somewhere between northern Andhra Pradesh and southern Odisha. We have received reports indicating that this will lead to heavy rainfall across various districts in these states... We have assigned specific responsibilities to each department, ensuring they are fully prepared in advance. The state government is completely ready to handle this situation. As always, our primary objective remains the same: Zero casualties," CM Majhi said.

According to the IMD, a well-marked low-pressure area over the central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal intensified as of 8.30 am on Saturday. The system is likely to persist over the same region and intensify into a depression on October 24, before moving west-northwestwards and strengthening into a deep depression on October 25.

The system is expected to intensify further into a cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal by the morning of October 26 and continue moving west-northwestwards towards the Andhra Pradesh coast, reaching the region around the morning of October 28.

IMD Bhubaneswar Director Manorama Mohanty said Odisha was likely to be affected by rainfall and wind activity as the system intensified and moved towards the coast.

"The low-pressure area lies over east central and joining south east way of Bengal, and it is likely to persist over the same region and intensify into a depression today, 24th October. Thereafter, it is very likely to move west-northwestward and intensify further into a deep depression on 25th October and into a cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal by 26th morning. Moving west-northwestward, it would continue to intensify further and reach the west-central Bay of Bengal near the Andhra Pradesh coast around the morning of 28 October, 2026, because of which Odisha is likely to be impacted by rainfall as well as wind activity... The sea conditions are very likely to be very rough," Mohanty said.

The weather department has warned of heavy rainfall in parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as the system approaches the coast. The expected impact has prompted the Odisha government to review its response mechanisms and assign responsibilities to different departments to ensure coordinated action.

Meanwhile, the northeast monsoon remained vigorous over Tamil Nadu during the past 24 hours, with light rainfall reported at most places across the state, Puducherry and Karaikal.

Heavy rainfall in Tiruchirappalli caused flooding on roads and in low-lying areas, a government office and a railway subway, severely inconveniencing motorists, members of the public and school students.

The IMD's forecast indicates that the developing weather system will continue to strengthen over the Bay of Bengal over the coming days, with its movement towards the Andhra Pradesh coast expected to influence weather conditions along the adjoining coastal regions.