Bhubaneswar, Oct 28 Trees and electric poles were uprooted, landslides were reported, and roads were flooded as heavy rain and strong winds, triggered by cyclone Arnab, battered southern Odisha on Wednesday, officials said.
Reviewing the situation following the cyclone’s landfall in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said advance preparations had helped the state achieve its “zero casualty” objective despite the devastation.
Gajapati was the worst-affected among the eight districts that were put on alert, he said.
“Though it was initially expected that the cyclone would make landfall on Wednesday forenoon, it hit the Andhra Pradesh coast much earlier, around 2 am. Our early preparations and evacuation saved many lives,” he said.
He warned that Malkangiri could be affected further as the cyclone moved across Odisha after wreaking havoc in Andhra Pradesh.
“The government was focusing on Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts,” he said.
“We have evacuated 43,827 people to 634 relief centres and are providing them with essentials such as food, water and medicines,” he said, adding that 2,037 relief centres had been kept ready.
Majhi said eight ministers, including the two deputy chief ministers, and seven senior IAS officers were camping in the affected districts to monitor the situation.
Schools and anganwadi centres in 16 districts remained closed on Wednesday in view of the cyclone’s impact.
Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said the cyclone had disrupted train services, with more than 50 trains cancelled along the eastern coast.
He said the next 12 hours are expected to be critical as the cyclone’s impact intensifies.
Bhubaneswar airport director Prasanna Pradhan said flight operations were largely normal, but a nine-seater service on the Bhubaneswar-Jeypore-Visakhapatnam sector was cancelled for the day due to the cyclone.
Flights from Chennai and Hyderabad to Bhubaneswar took alternative routes to avoid the affected Visakhapatnam airspace, he said.
The Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar said the cyclone had weakened after crossing the Andhra Pradesh-Yanam coast but had triggered heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in several parts of southern Odisha over the past 24 hours.
Mahendragarh in Gajapati district recorded the highest rainfall at 249.9 mm, followed by Pottangi in Koraput at 188 mm, Mohana in Gajapati at 168.8 mm, Ganjam at 161.4 mm and Similiguda in Koraput at 143.1 mm.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Ganjam districts, forecasting wind speeds of 50-70 kmph.
Bargarh, Subarnapur, Boudh, Nuapada, Balangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Puri, Khurda and Nayagarh districts were placed under an alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall, accompanied by winds of 40-60 kmph. Other parts of the state could also experience heavy rain and winds of 30-50 kmph, the IMD said.
According to the IMD, the cyclone crossed the Andhra Pradesh-Yanam coast between 2 am and 8 am on Wednesday as a very severe cyclonic storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 125-135 kmph. It weakened into a severe cyclonic storm around 8.30 am, with wind speeds dropping to 110-120 kmph.
In its national bulletin issued at 8.30 pm, the IMD said the severe cyclonic storm over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam and the adjoining Bay of Bengal had moved slowly at around 8 kmph over the preceding six hours and weakened into a cyclonic storm.
“It is very likely to move north-northwestwards during the next 48 hours and weaken gradually. It will weaken into a deep depression by midnight of October 28, 2026,” the bulletin said.
Pujari said 313 response teams had been deployed — 60 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams, nine National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and 244 Fire and Emergency Services teams.
All 19,143 fishing boats had returned to shore, he said, adding that the administration was now focusing on relief distribution, damage assessment and restoring normalcy in the affected areas.
Amid continuing rain and strong winds, two Gajalaxmi Puja pandals collapsed in Bhubaneswar and Kalahandi district, but no one was injured, police said.
(PTI News)
