Cyclone Arnab: Naidu writes to Shah, says no loss of life, reports crop damage

The very severe cyclonic storm Arnab, which crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast on Wednesday morning, did not cause any human casualties, but considerably damaged crops, properties and other infrastructure, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu said in a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah.

Naidu cited preliminary estimates and said the cyclone and rainfall damaged agricultural and horticultural crops spread across approximately 70,900 hectares, including paddy. “Of this, crops on about 10,450 hectares had been reported inundated or damaged,” he said.

He added about 180 houses were reported damaged, mostly in the Konaseema district. Over 220 trees fell on state roads, of which over 170 had been cleared by Wednesday afternoon, he added. Naidu wrote damages to road infrastructure were reported in coastal areas.

Naidu underlined that the figures are provisional and likely to change as assessment teams completed their field surveys. “The state government will share a detailed damage assessment with the Centre after verification,” Naidu said.

He sought continued support from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and other central agencies. Naidu urged an early deputation of a central team to assess the damage.

Naidu said the cyclone’s impact was particularly concentrated along the Godavari delta coast, covering Konaseema, Kakinada, East Godavari and West Godavari, and Krishna and Anakapalli districts. Four wards in Visakhapatnam were inundated.

Fire and Emergency Services personnel attended to over 220 emergency calls, mainly involving the removal of fallen trees.

Naidu said the state government mobilised its disaster-response machinery throughout the night, deploying 16 NDRF and 11 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams across 14 districts.

Naidu wrote that over 28,000 people were shifted to relief shelters as a precautionary measure. He added that all fishing boats were brought back to harbour.

Naidu said medical teams, ambulances, relief supplies, power restoration crews and road-clearance teams had been positioned in affected districts, with collectors leading operations on the ground.

He added the administration would focus on assisting displaced families and those whose houses were damaged. Relief and response teams would remain deployed until the threat from rainfall and storm surge had passed, he said.

Naidu thanked Shah for the continued support and said the state would watch for rainfall and flooding in the days ahead.