Cyclone Arnab forces nearly 100,000 to evacuate in India

Cyclone Arnab made landfall on India's southeastern coast on Wednesday, forcing nearly 100,000 people to evacuate in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, authorities said.

The India Meteorological Department said Arnab hit Andhra Pradesh as a "very severe cyclonic storm," with winds of 125-135 kilometres per hour and gusts reaching 150 kph. The department said the storm was interacting with land along the coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam.

Authorities told as many as 50,000 people in Andhra Pradesh and 48,000 in Odisha to move to safe areas. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu said protecting every life was the top priority.

Heavy rain, strong winds and waves hit the port city of Kakinada, near the centre of the storm. A resident taken to a government-run shelter near Kakinada said her home floods during such storms and that authorities provided a bus to take people to shelter.

India's weather bureau warned of localised flooding, damage to thatched houses, uprooted power and communications poles and widespread damage to standing crops. The Ministry of Civil Aviation said flights to Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were expected to be among the most affected.

Neighbouring Sri Lanka closed schools after its meteorology department warned that storms could trigger flash floods and mudslides. Nepal's disaster authority said the storm would move inland toward the Himalayas, bringing heavy rainfall and a high risk of heavy snowfall, snowstorms and avalanches, and urged tourists to avoid high mountain areas.