Cyclone Arnab causes damage and deaths on India’s eastern coast

Cyclone Arnab Leaves Infrastructure Damage and Power Outages Across India’s Eastern Coast

Power lines are down, agricultural fields remain submerged under heavy water, and transport networks are slowly attempting to resume normal operations following the landfall of Cyclone Arnab. Striking India’s eastern coast, the storm has disrupted daily life for hundreds of thousands of residents while local and national governments shift from emergency evacuations into large-scale recovery operations.

The storm made landfall early on Wednesday along the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, carrying sustained winds of 130 kilometers (85 miles) per hour, NASA Science reported.

Official Death Tolls Vary Between Six and Nine

Human losses from the storm remain under active review by local authorities, with differing totals reported across regional monitoring agencies. Reuters noted that the official death toll stood at six, according to an Andhra Pradesh state government official. Simultaneously, The Times of India put the total at nine fatalities, primarily attributing the deaths to electrocution, tree collapses, and structural failures during the height of the storm.

In response to the tragedy, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced an ex-gratia payment of five lakh rupees to the families of individuals who lost their lives, alongside financial assistance for impacted households.

Agricultural Destruction and Infrastructure Strain

The economic impact of the cyclone is heavily concentrated in the agricultural sector and regional power grids. Preliminary state estimates indicate that Cyclone Arnab damaged over 70,000 hectares of paddy crops and more than 10,000 hectares of horticultural plantings in Andhra Pradesh alone.

Energy infrastructure suffered immense strain across the disaster zone. Chief Minister Naidu noted in a statement covered by Reuters that at least 15,000 electricity poles were damaged by the winds. Restoration efforts have moved quickly in urban centers—with nearly 80 percent of power supply restored in Visakhapatnam—while crews continue arduous repair work in Konaseema, Kakinada, and the Godavari districts where debris and fallen lines blocked access.

Transportation routes also faced immediate bottlenecks. Indian Railways cancelled several coaching services and altered routes across Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, affecting popular lines such as the Visakhapatnam–Kirandul Night Express and the Bhubaneswar–Jagdalpur Hirakhand Express, The Indian Express reported. A Marshall Island-flagged cargo vessel carrying 20 crew members remained grounded and stalled off the Andhra Pradesh coast due to persisting rough seas.

Evacuations and the El Niño Meteorological Context

Ahead of the impact, authorities moved more than 180,000 people to safety across Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, deploying National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams to manage relief shelters and clear blocked roads.

Meteorologists note that Arnab developed unusually late in the season. While the North Indian Ocean basin typically produces named tropical cyclones in April or May, Arnab emerged in the Bay of Bengal on October 25, 2026. NASA Science highlighted that the storm formed amid an ongoing El Niño climate pattern. While El Niño conditions generally correspond with reduced frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, Arnab still achieved classification as a “very severe cyclonic storm” under the India Meteorological Department scale.

With immediate rescue operations largely concluded, Chief Minister Naidu has formally requested the central government to dispatch an inter-ministerial team to conduct an early assessment of the losses.

More on this story: Cyclone Arnab Batters Andhra Pradesh With Heavy Rains