Cyclone Arnab LIVE: Cyclone wreaks havoc in Odisha, over 55,000 evacuated across 9 districts

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the very severe cyclonic storm Arnab has inflicted a loss of at least ₹4,600 crore

Updated - October 30, 2026 09:41 am IST

A drone view of the inundated area of Berhampur in the wake of the Cyclone Arnab, in Ganjam, Odisha, on Thursday (October 29, 2026). | Photo Credit: PTI

The Odisha Government on Thursday (October 29, 2026) deployed over 300 teams from different disaster response agencies for rescue operations in flood-hit Ganjam and eight other districts, as cyclone ‘Arnab’ left a trail of destruction in several parts of the state, officials said.

Andhra Pradesh has suffered an estimated loss of ₹4,600 crore due to Cyclone Arnab as per the preliminary assessment, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said. Mr. Naidu made an aerial survey of cyclone-hit areas in the Krishna and Godavari regions.

Meanwhile, rail services on the Howrah-Chennai route were disrupted after the swollen Bahuda river crossed the danger mark at two railway bridges in Odisha’s Ganjam district following heavy rainfall triggered by Cyclone Arnab, officials said. As many as 36 trains were cancelled, 30 diverted and eight regulated or rescheduled as a precautionary measure to ensure passenger safety.

The Indian Coast Guard on Thursday (October 29) rescued all the 20 crew members of a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier vessel, Sigma Pearl, stranded off the Andhra Pradesh coast in the Bay of Bengal due to rough weather conditions that prevailed due to the very severe cyclonic storm Arnab.

The Coast Guard safely airlifted the crew from the 180-metre-long vessel off the seaside village of Antaravedi in Dr BR Ambedkar Konaseema district, an official press release said.

“The Indian Coast Guard safely shifted the 20 crew members stranded in the merchant ship into the Coast Guard ship Sujay,” it said.

The two distribution utilities of Telangana have dispatched emergency material along with nearly 2,000 staff to help restoration of power supply in the Arnab cyclone-hit areas in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, following a request from that State.

Several power staff teams were sent to the cyclone-hit areas from Telangana on Tuesday along with some emergency material required for restoration of power supply. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Energy Minister G. Ravi Kumar spoke to their Telangana counterparts A. Revanth Reddy and M. Bhatti Vikramarka, respectively, over phone on Tuesday and sought help in restoration of power supply.

Telangana sends 2,000 staff, material to A.P. for power supply restoration work

Telangana sends 2K staff, material to A.P. for power supply restoration work

Heavy rain triggered by cyclone Arnab wreaked havoc in Odisha’s Ganjam, Gajapati and Kandhamal districts on Thursday (October 29, 2026), washing away roads, marooning villages and triggering landslides, as State officials struggled to restore normalcy.

A stretch of the National Highway 326 connecting Berhampur with Mohana was washed away by swirling floodwaters, disrupting road connectivity. Road infrastructure also suffered extensive damage in Gajapati district. The hilly terrain compounded the situation, as torrents of rainwater rushed downhill into low-lying areas, triggering landslides and damaging infrastructure. At several places, floodwaters flowed over major roads, halting vehicular movement in the two districts.

Post-Arnab cyclone, heavy rain wreaks havoc in Odisha’s Ganjam, Gajapati districts

Heavy rains from Cyclone Arnab flood Ganjam, Gajapati; 200+ villages cut off, roads washed away, rescue efforts underway.

As many as 367 babies were born after 3,100 pregnant women were shifted to hospitals as a precautionary measure ahead of very severe cyclonic storm Arnab in Andhra Pradesh.

The health and medical department identified 4,228 pregnant women, including those expected to deliver within two weeks and those with high-risk pregnancies and shifted 3,100 of them to medical facilities ahead of the cyclone.

Of the women shifted, 690 were taken to Primary Health Centres (PHCs), 83 to Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHCs), 430 to Community Health Centres (CHCs), 442 to area hospitals, 132 to district hospitals, 456 to government medical college hospitals and 762 to private hospitals, it said.

Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar on Thursday said that Cyclone Arnab caused an estimated ₹500 crore damage to the power sector and that the government has intensified emergency repairs to the damaged infrastructure, with special focus on Palakollu, Bhimavaram and Narsapur, which bore the brunt of the extreme weather event.