BHUBANESWAR, India: Thousands of people were evacuated along India’s eastern coast, and some train services cancelled, authorities said on Tuesday (Oct 27), one day before a severe cyclone was scheduled to make landfall, bringing gusting winds and heavy rain.
In neighbouring Nepal, authorities cautioned tourists against venturing into high altitude areas as they feared Cyclone Arnab could trigger torrential downpours, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayan region from Thursday night through Saturday.
The risks come at a time when the mountainous country is starting to recover from a deadly flash flood in August, which killed about 1,500 people.
Arnab, which formed over the Bay of Bengal, has intensified since Monday, India’s weather office said on Tuesday.
It is expected to make landfall in the southern coastal state of Andhra Pradesh by Wednesday morning, bringing strong winds and intense showers to parts of the state as well as neighbouring Odisha state.
Nearly 50,000 people had been moved to shelters from vulnerable areas by Monday night, out of 400,000 estimated to need evacuation, Prakhar Jain, Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, told Reuters.
“Evacuation is continuing,” Jain added.