State authorities also report 3 deaths and damage to homes and infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh, while a full damage assessment is expected to take days or weeks.
Cyclone Arnab inundated roughly 200,000 acres of cropland in eastern Andhra Pradesh, India, state authorities said in Associated Press reporting carried by Fortune. The estimate describes the area flooded, rather than a final assessment of crop losses.
The October 29 account said Arnab hit eastern Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday. The storm followed India’s weakest southwest monsoon since 2015.
State authorities also said the storm killed 3 people and damaged homes and infrastructure. Heavy rainfall remained the biggest inland threat as Arnab weakened.
Before weakening, Arnab drew energy from unusually warm conditions in the Bay of Bengal, said K.J. Ramesh, a former director general of the Indian Meteorological Department. He said warm ocean water, heat stored below the surface and an already warm atmosphere helped fuel the storm. Warmer air can also hold more moisture, increasing the potential for intense rainfall.
Akshay Deoras, a weather expert at the University of Reading, said unusually warm water helped Arnab strengthen rapidly. Cyclones are part of natural weather patterns, he said, but warming caused by human activity can amplify their rainfall.
Analysis
Anjal Prakash, a public policy professor at Flame University, said households can suffer through damaged homes, destroyed assets and lost wages. Many farmers, informal workers and small businesses lack insurance or savings, making recovery harder. A flooded road or damaged electricity substation can also interrupt factories, supply chains and services beyond the disaster zone, he said.
The AP report also identified planned investment along the affected coast: Google, Adani and Airtel plan to invest $15 billion in a large-scale data center in Visakhapatnam, which was in the path of Arnab’s heavy rains. Prakash described flooding, heat, unreliable electricity and water scarcity as overlapping risks for such facilities.
Prakash advocated planning for future climate conditions through stronger electricity grids, flood-proofed roads and housing, and improved crop insurance.
Full estimates of Arnab’s damage remain unavailable. The October 29 report said calculating them would likely take days or weeks.
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