Nearly 50,000 people had been moved to shelters in Andhra Pradesh by Monday night ahead of Cyclone Arnab's expected landfall on Wednesday morning, with evacuations continuing from vulnerable coastal areas, India's disaster management officials told Reuters on Tuesday. Out of an estimated 400,000 people needing evacuation, the state was still moving residents as the storm intensified over the Bay of Bengal.

The India Meteorological Department forecast Arnab would cross the coast near Yanam, between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, on the morning of 28 October as a very severe cyclonic storm, with sustained winds of 115 to 125 km/h and gusts up to 140 km/h. Heavy to extremely heavy rain was expected in Andhra Pradesh's northern and central coastal districts and in southern Odisha.

Schools shut and trains cancelled

Odisha had not begun evacuations by Tuesday, its Special Relief Commissioner told Reuters, but schools and colleges in five districts were closed for Tuesday and Wednesday. At least 12 trains were cancelled in the east, and rail services on 53 routes along the southern coast were suspended for Tuesday and Wednesday, regional railway authorities said.

In neighbouring Nepal, authorities cautioned tourists against high-altitude areas, fearing Arnab could bring torrential downpours, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayas from Thursday night through Saturday, as the country recovers from a deadly flash flood in August that killed about 1,500 people.

Sources: Reuters and Harava News, summarising India Meteorological Department forecasts.