Cyclone Arnab crossed the Andhra Pradesh-Yanam coast on October 28 with sustained winds of 125-135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The damage is being counted. Andhra Pradesh has reported seven deaths and preliminary crop damage across 2,24,489 hectares, according to state government figures. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday directed officials to restore electricity, clear fallen trees and fast-track compensation for those affected; officials told him a preliminary damage report would be submitted the same day.
By Thursday morning, the remnant of the very severe cyclonic storm had weakened into a depression over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining south Odisha, near Jagdalpur, the IMD said.
A fresh low-pressure area formed over the south Andaman Sea on Thursday morning and is likely to intensify into a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal within 48 hours, the IMD said. It is a separate system, not a continuation of Arnab.
Inland, a slower emergency is measured in a different unit: percentage points of reservoir storage. Andhra Pradesh, now clearing up after the storm, has declared 388 of its 688 mandals drought-affected.
The Central Water Commission's (CWC) weekly bulletin monitors 178 reservoirs with a combined live capacity of about 184.7 billion cubic metres (BCM) at full reservoir level. On October 22 they held 123.228 BCM — 66.70% of that capacity — down from 68.58% on October 15. That is 73.56% of the storage at this time last year and 81.57% of the normal for the date. Storage fell by roughly 3.47 BCM in the week to October 22, consistent with the percentage drop.
The south is far worse placed than the national figure. Its 50 monitored reservoirs held 42.34% of capacity, against 89.35% at the same point last year. Several reservoirs in Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Maharashtra are critically low.
A note on the figures: the October 22 bulletin measures storage against live capacity at full reservoir level (FRL). Figures reported earlier this month used “usable capacity”, so comparisons between the two are approximate, not exact.
Drought declarations now cover large parts of four states — each counted separately, never added together:
Karnataka: 226 of 240 taluks declared drought-hit.
Maharashtra: 305 of 358 talukas declared drought-affected.
Andhra Pradesh: 388 of 688 mandals declared drought-affected.
Telangana: 365 mandals across 31 of the state’s 33 districts, formally declared drought-affected on October 27 under a government order issued by Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju — 111 severely and 254 moderately affected. The order remains in force for six months and follows a 17% shortfall in southwest monsoon rainfall, which officials attribute to El Nino.
In Telangana, the strain is clearest at the canal gates. At the Priyadarshini Jurala project in Jogulamba Gadwal district, farmers opened the project gates themselves in September after the state did not release water from the left canal. Police had been posted at both canals to stop them; the next day farmers entered the canal while BRS leaders were blocked from reaching the dam.
On October 27, the state declared 365 mandals drought-affected and directed that its NDRF memorandum be filed within seven days. Input subsidy for affected farmers follows central assistance, not the declaration.
Maharashtra's drought now covers 305 of 358 talukas, up from 265 when the first list was issued on October 14. The state imposed a 10% water cut across urban and rural local bodies from October 16, and is paying Rs 5,000 per farmer from its own funds while its central request waits.
Its Rs 17,500 crore proposal to the Centre carries no drinking-water component yet; officials say that part is still being assessed.
Karnataka and Maharashtra have both asked for central assistance under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). No release has been confirmed to any of the four states for this drought, and Telangana's memorandum is not yet due.
Also Read: Cyclone Arnab live updates: storm weakens to a deep depression