Over a lakh people were evacuated in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Arnab crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, officials said.The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority evacuated more than 84,000 people, warning that Kakinada, Konaseema and East Godavari districts would experience gale-force winds of 125-135 kmph as the landfall process continued.Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu urged coastal residents to remain indoors and follow government advisories. No injuries or casualties had been reported, though some old, uninhabited buildings had collapsed.Naidu said 290 shelters had been set up, accommodating 84,396 people. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Navy and Coast Guard were on alert. More than 30,000 fishing boats had returned from the sea. In Gopalpur, 93 Andhra Pradesh boats and their crews were safe. Clothes hang to dry inside at a temporary shelter set up for people at a school as Cyclone Arnab approaches the Andhra Pradesh coast in Kakinada, India, late Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. (AP Photo)Nearly 5,000 pregnant women had been shifted to health centres and hospitals, while 8,400 personnel were on standby to respond to power disruptions. Tankers and generators had been arranged to ensure safe drinking water supplies.Naidu warned of possible flooding in the Nagavali and Vamsadhara rivers in North Coastal Andhra. Drones were on standby to deliver food and medicines to inundated villages. Agricultural crops across 7.16 lakh hectares and horticultural crops covering 16 lakh hectares could be affected.In neighbouring Odisha, more than 30,000 people had been evacuated, with the southern region on high alert, Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said.Story continues below this ad“The cyclone is presently within Andhra Pradesh, and it will later in the afternoon touch Odisha,” Pujari said, adding that personnel and equipment had been mobilised at vulnerable locations and evacuations were continuing.Malkangiri was likely to be the worst hit among the southern districts. Authorities were moving people from low-lying and landslide-prone areas in Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur to shelters.Schools and Anganwadis in 16 of Odisha’s 30 districts remained closed. As many as 2,037 cyclone shelters had been readied with food, drinking water and other essentials. The administrations in Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nuapada were also on alert. Reports of uprooted trees had emerged from some southern districts, but no major damage or casualties had been reported, Pujari said.According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone crossed the Andhra Pradesh-Yanam coast between 2 am and 8 am as a very severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 kmph.Story continues below this ad A view of unusual rough sea, strong winds and rainfall conditions as Cyclone Arnab moves closer to the east coast at Gopalpur, in Ganjam on Tuesday. (ANI Video Grab)“The latest observations indicate that the landfall process has been completed with the central region moving completely into land,” the IMD said. The system weakened into a severe cyclonic storm at 8.30 am, with wind speeds dropping to 110-120 kmph.It is likely to move north-northwestwards over the next 48 hours, crossing southern Odisha before tracking towards Chhattisgarh and weakening into a cyclonic storm and then a deep depression, the IMD said.Regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, director Manorama Mohanty said winds could reach 60-70 kmph, with gusts of up to 80 kmph, as the system moved inland. Its outer bands had already triggered continuous rain and strong winds in Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam.The IMD issued a red alert for rainfall exceeding 20 cm in Malkangiri, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada, Gajapati and Kalahandi, warning of possible localised landslides in hilly areas. Heavy to very heavy rain, accompanied by winds of 40-60 kmph, was also forecast in Bargarh, Subarnapur, Boudh, Nuapada, Balangir, Kandhamal, Puri, Khordha and Nayagarh.Story continues below this adAn orange alert was issued for Sundargarh, Jharsuguda and Bargarh for October 29.Pujari said 313 response teams had been deployed: 60 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force teams, nine NDRF teams and 244 Fire and Emergency Services teams. All 19,143 fishing boats had returned to shore, and temporary road closures had been implemented in landslide-prone areas.“Achieving zero casualties is our primary motto,” the minister added.–With inputs from PTI