Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Cyclone Arnab makes prolonged landfall along coast of Andhra Pradesh
- New study says India among top countries with highest heatwave exposure for infants and elderly
Here’s a roundup of the biggest news from India on Wednesday, October 28:
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Skip next section Cyclone Arnab batters Andhra Pradesh with drawn-out landfall10/28/2026October 28, 2026
Cyclone Arnab batters Andhra Pradesh with drawn-out landfall
“Very severe” Cyclone Arnab made a sooner-than-expected landfall along India’s east coast and is now “practically stationary” at the edge, authorities said.
The storm, with winds over 125 kilometers per hour (78 miles per hour) and gusts of 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour), is in the third-highest category of storms on a scale of five.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said its landfall would last for over two hours and that the edge of the storm was already on the coast of the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh. Its center remains over sea.
Power, transport disrupted
The cyclone brought heavy rains, high winds and disruption to Andhra and its neighboring state of Odisha. Gales rocked trees, winds and heavy rain disrupted power lines and the storm caused the sea to surge like many locals had never seen before. Flight and train services were also impacted.
“There was a cyclone here three years ago, but the water didn’t rise this much,” a 35-year-old local resident said, adding that the government had warned them to stock up on groceries beforehand.
The weather agency warned of “total destruction” of thatched houses, localized flooding, the uprooting of power and communications poles, and “widespread damage” to standing crops.
No casualties so far
No loss of life has been reported in either states as of Wednesday morning.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu credited advance precautionary measures for preventing casualties so far. He said so during a teleconference meeting to monitor the impact of the storm onground, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
Together, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha evacuated nearly 100,000 people from vulnerable regions in preperation of the storm. They were moved inland fro better shelter.
“Our homes get flooded, and we have to stay in the water,” said Rajeshwari, 65, who gave only one name and had been taken to a government-run shelter near Kakinada. “So the government provided us with a bus, and we came here to shelter,” she told AFP.
In Nepal, authorities warned tourists against venturing into high-altitude areas due to fears that Arnab could trigger torrential downpours, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayan region from Thursday night through Saturday.
Arnab formed on Monday morning in the Bay of Bengal, a region known for birthing some of the deadliest storms to batter India. This year’s season, however, is turbocharged by the El Nino weather phenomenon which is causing unprecedented warming, experts say.
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https://p.dw.com/p/5Ol4ASkip next section Welcome to our coverage10/28/2026October 28, 2026
Welcome to our coverage
Hello and welcome to DW’s India news blog!
This is Mahima Kapoor reporting from Studio Delhi and I will be your guide through everything going on across the country.
We start off with a severe storm threatning India’s east coast. Dubbed “Arnab,” the “very severe” cyclone is making a drawn-out landfall on the coast of the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh. The high-speed winds and heavy rainfall has already disrupted schools, flights and power there. Thousands of people have been evacuated while the neighboring states remain on high alert.
Tropical cyclones aren’t the only extreme weather phenonemon on our minds today. A new study by The Lancet showed that India is among the top countries with he highest heatwave exposure to its vulnerable population, that is infants and the elderly.
Stepping away from weather, police authorities in India’s eastern metropolis city of Kolkata said over 50% of the security cameras at the site of a recent, deadly stampede were not working.
Here’s another number for you: Less than 28,000 residents of Delhi have filled forms at special camps to be reintroduced into the capital’s voter list. That’s after 475 million names were deleted from the city in the controversial revision of voter names.
Stay tuned for all of this and more.
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