Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh): India is evacuating tens of thousands of people from its eastern coast as Cyclone Arnab, now classified as a “very severe” cyclonic storm, moves towards Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the storm was centred about 260 km southeast of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh’s most populous city, and is expected to make landfall by Wednesday, October 28.

Forecasters expect Arnab to turn northwest and cross the coast at about 11:30 am local time on October 28, bringing sustained winds of 115–125km/h and gusts of up to 140km/h. The cyclone formed over the Bay of Bengal, a major breeding ground for tropical storms that regularly affect India’s eastern seaboard.

Andhra Pradesh’s disaster management authority said more than 12 million people live along the cyclone’s projected path, which is expected to move inland and northwards across India. Nearly 50,000 people had been shifted to shelters from vulnerable areas by October 26, out of an estimated 400,000 requiring evacuation. “Evacuation is continuing,” the authority’s managing director, Prakhar Jain, said.

Railway authorities have cancelled at least 12 trains in eastern India and suspended services on 53 coastal routes for Tuesday, October 27 and Wednesday, October 28. In Odisha, officials plan to evacuate 48,000 people.

Neighbouring Nepal has advised tourists to avoid high-altitude areas, warning that Arnab could bring heavy rain, snowstorms and avalanches to the Himalayas from Thursday, October 29 night to Saturday, October 31. The advisory follows August flash floods in Nepal that killed about 1,500 people.