Bhubaneswar: Odisha has evacuated more than 30,000 people to safety and placed its southern districts on high alert after the landfall of very severe cyclonic storm Arnab along the Andhra Pradesh-Yanam coast, a state minister said on Wednesday.
Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the cyclone was expected to affect all southern districts, with Malkangiri likely to be the worst hit.
“The cyclone is presently within Andhra Pradesh, and it will later in the afternoon touch Odisha,” Pujari said, adding that personnel and equipment had been mobilised at vulnerable locations and evacuations were continuing.
The government is focusing on Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts, where people from low-lying and landslide-prone areas are being shifted to shelters.
Schools and anganwadis in 16 of the state's 30 districts remained closed on Wednesday. As many as 2,037 cyclone shelters have been kept ready, with arrangements for food, drinking water and other essential facilities.
The administrations in Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nuapada districts are also on alert, Pujari said.
Trees have been uprooted in some southern districts, but no major damage or casualties had been reported so far, he added.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone crossed the Andhra Pradesh-Yanam coast between 2 am and 8 am as a very severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 kmph.
“The latest observations indicate that the landfall process has been completed with the central region moving completely into land,” the IMD said in its latest bulletin.
The system weakened into a severe cyclonic storm at 8.30 am, with wind speeds dropping to 110-120 kmph. It is expected to weaken into a cyclonic storm within six hours and further into a deep depression over the following six hours.
The weather agency said the system would move north-northwestwards over the next 48 hours, crossing parts of southern Odisha before tracking northwest towards Chhattisgarh.
Its outer bands have already brought continuous rainfall and strong winds to Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam districts.
Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, director Manorama Mohanty said winds could reach 60-70 kmph, with gusts of up to 80 kmph, as the system moves inland.
The IMD has issued a red alert for heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati and Kalahandi districts. Localised landslides are possible in hilly areas because of continuous rainfall.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall, accompanied by winds of 40-60 kmph, is also forecast in Bargarh, Subarnapur, Boudh, Nuapada, Balangir, Kandhamal, Puri, Khordha and Nayagarh districts.
An orange alert has been issued for Sundargarh, Jharsuguda and Bargarh districts for October 29, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall and gusty winds.
Pujari said 313 response teams had been deployed at identified vulnerable locations. These include 60 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force teams, nine National Disaster Response Force teams and 244 Fire and Emergency Services teams.
All 19,143 fishing boats have returned to shore, while preventive measures, including temporary road closures, have been implemented in vulnerable landslide-prone areas.
“Achieving zero casualties is our primary motto,” the minister said.