Cyclone Arnab closing in on Andhra coast, 4 states on alert ahead of landfall

The Centre on Monday sounded an alert in four states and Puducherry and stepped up preparedness as Cyclone Arnab intensified over the Bay of Bengal and moved towards the Andhra Pradesh coast, where it is expected to make landfall on the morning of October 28. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry have been placed on alert.

In its morning bulletin on Monday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the cyclonic storm was centred over the east-central and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal at 5:30 am.



It was located around 650 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam and was moving westwards at a speed of 15 kmph.

The storm is expected to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by Monday midnight and further strengthen into a very severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday.

According to the IMD, Arnab is forecast to cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, by Tuesday afternoon. It is likely to bring sustained wind speeds of 115–125 kmph, with gusts reaching up to 140 kmph.