Last updated: October 31, 2026, 3:30 PM IST
Cyclone Arnab came ashore on India’s east coast early on October 28, 2026, as a very severe cyclonic storm — the third-highest category on the India Meteorological Department’s scale — and left behind a trail of fallen trees, broken power lines, flooded fields and grieving families. By October 29, the storm had weakened to a deep depression and then further inland, but the damage assessment was still moving. That is why the death toll in this story needs careful handling: early reports said three, then five, and the latest official figure reported by Reuters on October 29 is six, with The Times of India, citing local officials, putting it at nine.
This article gives you the latest verified picture as of writing — the landfall, the evacuation, the power and transport damage, and the relief effort — and it is explicit about where figures differ and why. When a toll is still being counted, honesty about uncertainty is more useful than a single confident number.
Landfall: What Arnab Was, and Where It Hit
Arnab formed over the Bay of Bengal, a basin that has produced some of the deadliest storms in India’s history, and intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm before landfall. The IMD placed the crossing of the Andhra Pradesh–Yanam coast southwest of Yanam, about 20 km east-northeast of Narsapur and 60 km southwest of Kakinada, with the landfall process running from 02:00 to 08:00 IST on October 28. Sustained winds at landfall were estimated at 125–135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph — strong enough to uproot trees, snap concrete poles and tear roofs from houses.
By 12:30 IST on October 28 the storm was still a severe cyclonic storm inland, with winds of 95–105 kmph gusting to 115 kmph, and it weakened through a cyclonic storm into a deep depression by October 29, then further into a depression and a well-marked low-pressure area. The weakening did not end the danger: the system kept dragging heavy rain inland across Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and beyond, with flash-flood warnings for 13 Andhra districts and Yanam, and heavy-rain forecasts extending into West Bengal through October 31. Cyclones kill twice — first with wind at the coast, then with water inland — and Arnab followed that pattern.
The Human Cost: Why the Toll Moved From 3 to 5 to 6
Here is the toll timeline, stated plainly because readers deserve to see it. On October 28, the National Disaster Response Force’s Inspector General Narendra Singh Bundela told reporters that three people had lost their lives in Andhra Pradesh, and the state emergency operations centre reported the same figure to ANI, including a 53-year-old man who died in Visakhapatnam district on October 27 after contacting a fallen live wire. Later on October 28, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu confirmed five deaths, from electrocution, falling poles, an uprooted palm tree and a wall collapse, across Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Konaseema and the Bhimavaram area, and announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh for each bereaved family.
On October 29, Reuters reported the official toll had risen to six, according to an Andhra Pradesh state government official, while The Times of India, citing local officials, put the figure at nine, attributing deaths to electrocution and tree and house collapses. The honest way to report this is: the latest official figure is six, with a higher local tally of nine also in circulation, and the number may still be revised as remote areas report in. Anyone quoting a single number without that context — including the early “three” that is still circulating in older stories — is quoting an outdated count. The causes, consistently reported, are the familiar cyclone killers: live wires, falling trees and collapsing structures, not the wind itself in most cases.
The Damage: Power, Homes, Crops and a Stranded Ship
The physical damage is extensive even by cyclone standards. At least 15,000 electricity poles were damaged, according to a statement quoted from Chief Minister Naidu, and power supply had been restored in most districts by October 29 except for Konaseema and West Godavari, where restoration was still under way. At least 180 houses were destroyed and 220 trees brought down in the first official accounting, and standing crops across the coastal districts were damaged by wind and saline flooding — a blow that will outlast the news cycle for farming families.
Transport took a heavy hit as well. Between October 27 and November 5, 50 or more trains were cancelled or suspended, and flights were delayed or cancelled at Vijayawada and Rajahmundry airports. Off the coast, a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo vessel with 20 crew members on board remained grounded and stalled on October 29 because of rough seas — a reminder that a cyclone’s danger zone extends well beyond the shoreline. Schools were closed along the coast, and more than 180,000 people had been evacuated in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha before landfall, an evacuation that officials credit with keeping the toll far lower than the storm’s strength might otherwise have produced.
Odisha, the Relief Effort, and What Happens Next
Odisha, to Andhra’s north, escaped the worst of the wind but not the rain: at least 17 districts were affected, according to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, with southern Odisha seeing widespread heavy rainfall. NDRF and state teams worked through the storm clearing roads — television images showed crews in rain gear hauling branches off highways — while state governments coordinated power restoration, damage surveys and compensation. Naidu’s statement also made a broader point: better forecasting and targeted evacuation, enabled by improved technology, helped identify the areas likely to be hit hardest and limit the loss of life.
What happens next is less dramatic and more important than the landfall itself: damage surveys that decide compensation, power restoration in the two remaining districts, crop-loss assessment for farmers, and the refloating or salvage of the grounded cargo vessel once seas calm. For readers in the affected districts, the practical advice remains: stay clear of fallen wires and damaged structures, do not wade through floodwater, and rely on IMD bulletins and district administration notices rather than social-media forwards. Arnab has weakened into a low-pressure area, but its aftermath — the claims, the repairs, the rebuilding — will take far longer to clear than its winds did to arrive.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Cyclone Arnab make landfall?
Early on October 28, 2026, crossing the Andhra Pradesh–Yanam coast southwest of Yanam between 02:00 and 08:00 IST, with winds of 125–135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph.
What is the official death toll?
The latest official figure reported by Reuters on October 29 is six; The Times of India, citing local officials, put it at nine. Earlier counts of three and then five were superseded as reports came in.
How many people were evacuated?
More than 180,000 people were evacuated in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha ahead of landfall.
What damage did Arnab cause?
At least 15,000 electricity poles damaged, at least 180 houses destroyed, 220 trees down, crops damaged, trains cancelled and flights disrupted, plus a cargo vessel with 20 crew grounded off the coast.
Is the cyclone over?
Yes, as a storm: Arnab weakened to a deep depression on October 29 and then to a depression and well-marked low-pressure area, though heavy rain continued inland.
Sources
- Reuters — Six killed in cyclone off India’s eastern coast
- The Environment — Cyclone Arnab weakens into deep depression; five killed, 17 Odisha districts affected
- The Hindu BusinessLine — Cyclone Arnab makes landfall in Andhra Pradesh
- The Watchers — Cyclone Arnab leaves 3 dead after landfall in Andhra Pradesh
My Personal Take
I want to be direct about why I wrote the toll section the way I did. Too many cyclone stories pick the first number they see and never update it, so a reader on October 31 is still reading “three dead” when the official count has doubled. That is not a small error when families are involved. The toll moved from three to five to six because counting the dead after a cyclone is slow, grim work — not because anyone was lying, but because remote villages report late. Saying so is basic respect.
The other thing that stays with me is the evacuation number: 180,000 people moved before the storm arrived. India’s cyclone forecasting and evacuation system has quietly become one of the best in the world, and it is the reason a very severe cyclonic storm killed six people instead of six hundred. We should celebrate that without forgetting the six — or the farmers whose crops are gone, or the families waiting for power in Konaseema and West Godavari. The storm is over. The aftermath is not.
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