Cyclone Arnab LIVE: Amit Shah speaks with CMs of affected States, assures all support

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday (October 29, 2026) spoke with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Odisha and Chhattisgarh in the wake of Cyclone Arnab, and assured all assistance to mitigate the hardships of the people.

Editorial | Hunker down: On Cyclone Arnab, its landfall Rain and squally winds lashed parts of West Bengal on Thursday (October 29, 2026) as the “very severe” cyclonic storm Arnab weakened into a depression and lay centred over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining south Odisha.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the depression is likely to weaken to a well-marked low pressure by Thursday evening (October 29, 2026), bringing heavy rain in West Bengal till Friday (October 30, 2026).

Watch | Cyclone Arnab batters east coast: 5 dead in Andhra Pradesh, 17 Odisha districts affected Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to expedite relief operations, restore electricity, and fast-track compensation for people in the affected areas, as the government continued relief and restoration work following the cyclone.

About 2,000 people have been cut off by floodwater in Odisha’s Ganjam district, State Chief Secretary Anu Garg said on Thursday. The State plans to airlift around 100 villagers from Sanakhemundi, Asika and the Gopalpur area first.

Indian Coast Guard helicopters are on standby, but rain and low clouds are holding back flights. More than 200 villages in 22 blocks of Ganjam and Gajapati districts have been badly hit. A stretch of National Highway 326 linking Ganjam with Mohana has been washed away.

Odisha floods force airlift plans for stranded villagers as record rainfall from Cyclone Arnab devastates Ganjam and Gajapati. A new low-pressure area formed over the south Andaman Sea on Thursday morning, a day after Cyclone Arnab crossed the coast.

The IMD expects it to strengthen and become a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal by October 31. Officials in Amaravati said it would “most likely” affect Andhra Pradesh. Arnab itself has weakened into a depression over south Chhattisgarh and south Odisha and is expected to fade further by Thursday evening.

A fresh low-pressure area has formed over the Andaman Sea days after Cyclone Arnab and could become a depression by October 31, says IMD Amaravati. Floodwater from an overflowing rivulet rose above the danger mark at a railway bridge between Ichchapuram and Jhadupudi on Thursday morning.

The Brahmapur-Visakhapatnam passenger and express trains and the Visakhapatnam-Brahmapur passenger have been cancelled. Several long-distance trains, including the Falaknuma Express to Howrah, are being diverted via Vizianagaram and Titlagarh, skipping Srikakulam Road, Palasa and Bhubaneswar.

Floodwater at a railway bridge near Ichchapuram has led to the cancellation of three Brahmapur-Visakhapatnam trains; long-distance trains are diverted. The Nagavali at Srikakulam was just 1 cm below its warning level at noon on Thursday and still rising, Water Resources Department data showed.

Rivers across Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Parvathipuram Manyam districts kept swelling though the skies had cleared. The Bahuda, fed by water released from a dam in Odisha, sent floodwater into the border town of Ichchapuram.

Rivers in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Parvathipuram Manyam swelled after Cyclone Arnab, flooding Ichchapuram; a lineman died during repairs in Vizianagaram. Rain and squally winds lashed parts of West Bengal on Thursday (October 29, 2026) as the “very severe” cyclonic storm Arnab weakened into a depression and lay centred over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining south Odisha.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the depression is likely to weaken to a well-marked low pressure by Thursday evening (October 29, 2026), bringing heavy rain in West Bengal till Friday (October 30, 2026).