Flooding, power cuts and cancelled transport followed the storm’s October 28 landfall in Andhra Pradesh. India’s weather agency warned that a storm surge could submerge low-lying areas.
Cyclone Arnab made landfall in Andhra Pradesh on India’s east coast early on October 28, 2026, bringing heavy rain, flooding and winds of up to 135 kilometres per hour. Authorities had evacuated at least 180,000 people from Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Odisha the day before, Al Jazeera said in its October 28 report.
Trees fell onto highways and electricity supplies were disrupted after the storm crossed the coast. Floodwaters covered roads in Kakinada, a district in Andhra Pradesh.
Flights and train services were cancelled, and some schools closed. No casualties had been reported as of October 28.
India’s Meteorological Department classified Arnab at landfall as a “very severe cyclonic storm”, the third-highest category on its scale. The agency downgraded it to “severe” after it moved farther inland.
The department forecast a storm surge—a storm-driven rise in seawater—of up to 1.5 metres above tide level. It warned that the surge was likely to submerge low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh. That height was a forecast, not a measured water level.
Railway authorities say at least 12 trains in eastern India have been cancelled and services on 53 southern coastal routes suspended for Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of the storm’s forecast landfall.
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NASA cites India’s weather agency for Arnab’s landfall winds and news reports for flooded homes and crops. Weather officials advise fishermen in Odisha to stay ashore through October 29.
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