The Current Affairs Digest · ages 15+ · 2026-10-28
Very Severe Cyclone Arnab Is Forecast to Make Landfall Near Visakhapatnam Before Dawn
The IMD expects the storm to cross the coast between 2 am and 4 am on 28 October; more than 114,000 people have been moved.
Cyclone Arnab has intensified into a 'very severe cyclonic storm', according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD's 5:30 pm bulletin on 27 October forecast landfall, the moment the storm's centre crosses the coast, between 2 am and 4 am on 28 October near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Sustained winds of 125 to 135 km/h are expected at landfall, gusting up to 150 km/h, and the southern Odisha coast may see 60 to 80 km/h.
Earlier forecasts differed on timing. Al Jazeera's report on 27 October cited landfall at 11:30 am on Wednesday, winds of 115-125 km/h and a storm then 260 km south-east of Visakhapatnam. The IMD's later bulletin, reported by The Week, brought the forecast forward to the early hours and raised the wind speeds. More than 12 million people live along the projected path, according to Al Jazeera.
The response is large. The Week reports that more than 114,000 residents have been relocated from vulnerable coastal districts: over 84,000 in Andhra Pradesh and over 30,000 in Odisha. About 4,000 cyclone shelters are open across both states, 2,131 of them in Andhra's coastal districts. Andhra Pradesh deployed 1,087 medical teams, 1,274 ambulances and 8,281 emergency beds, and moved 1,351 pregnant women to hospitals.
Disruption has followed. At least 21 flights were cancelled at Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, and at least 50 trains were cancelled: 24 by South Coast Railway, 22 by East Coast Railway and 4 by South Eastern Railway. Odisha closed schools in 16 of its 30 districts. Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, said there is no need to panic but people must take precautions, while the IMD warned that winds at this speed can cause major damage to property.
Why it matters
Early evacuation, shelters and rail and air cancellations are the tools that turn a forecast into fewer casualties, and this storm tests all of them at once.
THE BAY OF BENGAL. Winds of 125-135 km/h are forecast at the Andhra coast, 60-80 km/h in southern Odisha.