Cyclone Arnab approaches Andhra coast as officials ready repairs and relief measures
Authorities in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are repairing rain-damaged roads and preparing evacuation and relief operations ahead of Cyclone Arnab, expected to make landfall on October 28.
The Highways Department in Chennai has stocked 5,000 bags of cold-mix material to repair roads damaged by recent rains, prioritising the Major Mukund Varadarajan Road where a water-pipeline cut needs restoration. About 43 km of the city’s 650 km road network show wear, potholes or loss of surface layer, especially in areas lacking proper drainage such as Moovarasampet and Nanmangalam. A department source said, "We have mobilised men and machinery needed for the repairs. We are waiting for a dry spell before the wet mixes are used. Temporary filling up of potholes are being taken up."
Fisherfolk along the Kakinada coast have been instructed to suspend marine fishing from October 27 due to expected heavy rain and strong winds. Kakinada Joint Collector Apoorva Bharat ordered officials to defer leave, maintain fuel supplies, and ensure gas-cylinder deliveries within two days. Control rooms have been established at the collectorate and mandal headquarters, and relief camps have been identified.
In Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district, 62 minor landslips were recorded over a 24-hour period ending on October 25, causing damage to huts, revetments, power poles and a transformer, and uprooting 28 trees.
The India Meteorological Department warned that a depression over the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a deep depression and is likely to become a very severe cyclonic storm, with winds of 115-125 kmph and gusts up to 140 kmph. The system is projected to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast, including Yanam, on the morning of October 28, prompting evacuations and disaster-preparedness measures across the region.