Cyclone Arnab intensifies; Centre's crisis panel puts forces on standby

Cyclone Arnab strengthened over the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, as the Centre and coastal states moved from warnings to deployment. On Monday, October 26, Cabinet Secretary T. V. Somanathan chaired a meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) and said the aim must be to prevent any loss of life. Rescue teams of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Indian Coast Guard, with ships and aircraft, have been kept ready, alongside the national and state disaster response forces. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects the storm to cross the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam by the forenoon of Wednesday, October 28, as a very severe cyclonic storm.

India's approach to cyclones is to track a storm days ahead, move people out of harm's way before landfall, and pre-position rescue teams, rather than respond only after the damage. The NCMC, a standing committee of senior central officials led by the Cabinet Secretary, is the top level of that system. Its meeting is where the Centre and the affected states agree on what each will do and what help is needed. The Cabinet Secretary's instruction to aim at preventing any loss of life sets the standard against which the response will be judged.

The storm's track explains the scale of the alert. Sustained winds of 115 to 125 kmph are strong enough to bring down trees, power lines and weak houses, and to push sea water inland along low-lying coasts. The landfall zone between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam takes in densely populated districts, ports and farmland where the paddy crop is close to harvest. After landfall, the remnants of the storm are expected to bring heavy rain far inland, which is why states as distant as Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh are being warned.

For citizens, the practical steps are the ones already announced by the states: schools closed in the affected districts, fishing banned, shelters opened and evacuation plans in place. Officials of the affected states told the NCMC that shelters and evacuation arrangements were ready and district control rooms had been activated.

Short-term: Strong winds and heavy rain are expected along the Andhra Pradesh coast on October 28, with power cuts, road blockages and disruption to rail and air travel likely. People in low-lying coastal areas may be moved to shelters before the storm arrives.

Long-term: The response will test the zero-casualty approach again. Once the storm passes, the focus will move to restoring power and roads and assessing crop and house damage for relief payments.

Who is affected: Residents of coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, people in neighbouring Odisha, fishermen along the east coast, farmers with standing paddy, and people in states inland expecting heavy rain.

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