5 dead as Cyclone Arnab lashes North Andhra with heavy rain

Cyclone Arnab uproots thousands of trees along the coastal belt in Dr.BRAmbedkar Konaseema district October 28, 2026 | Photo credit: IN PARADISE

Five people were killed in rain-related incidents when a very severe cyclonic storm Arnab lashed northern Andhra Pradesh with extremely heavy rain and winds gusting up to 150 km/h on the night of 27-28 October, uprooting more than 1,000 trees and affecting agricultural and horticultural crops in 80,500 hectares.

More than 42 weather stations in the northern districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Anakapalli recorded more than 200 mm of rainfall between 8:30 am on Tuesday and 8:30 am on Wednesday (October 28, 2026). Garividi of Vizianagaram district recorded the highest rainfall of 260 mm. Another 271 stations across the state reported at least 100mm over the same period.

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Briefing Union Home Minister Amit Shah about the damage caused by the cyclone, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said crops, especially paddy fields, over 70,000 hectares were inundated and horticultural crops spread over 10,500 hectares were also affected.

Relief measures announced

Mr. Naidu announced measures to help those affected, including fishermen, farmers, handloom households, people staying in relief camps and those whose houses, grocery shops, restaurants and other services were damaged. Families whose houses were flooded would receive 25 kg of rice, while families of fishermen and handloom households would receive 50 kg. Each affected family would also get one kg each of red gram, onion, sugar and potato, besides one liter of palm oil, he said.

Landfall near Narsapur

When the system started crossing the coast near Narsapur in West Godavari district around 2:00 AM on Wednesday (October 28), winds of 125-135 kmph left havoc in the district. Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) Director General Prakhar Jain said that West Godavari and Dr. districts bore the brunt of the cyclone. BR Ambedkar Konaseema.

The landfall process continued until 8:00 a.m., after which the system weakened into a strong cyclonic storm. The system was centered about 50 km north-northeast of Narsapur, 48 km west-northwest of Yanam and 50 km west of Kakinada, according to India Meteorological Department observations at 16:30 on Wednesday 28 October. Associated wind speed was 85-95 km/h.

Overland, the rainfall moved to central parts of the state, particularly Krishna, West Godavari and East Godavari districts. Challapalli in Krishna district recorded the highest daily rainfall of 121 mm as of 07:00 pm.

Published – 28 Oct 2026 22:03 IST