Industry Odisha Bureau, Oct 27: The very severe cyclonic storm Arnab over Westcentral Bay of Bengal moved nearly west-northwestwards with a speed of 20 kmph during past 6 hours.
It lay centered at 08:30 hours today over the same region near latitude 16.0°N and longitude 84.3°E, 220 km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam, 240 km east-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 340 km east-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 370 km south of Gopalpur, 410 km east of Bapatla (Andhra Pradesh) and 1030 km west-northwest of SriVijaya Puram (Andaman Islands).
It is very likely to move west-northwestwards till evening of 27th October. Thereafter, it is very likely to move northwestwards and cross Andhra Pradesh & Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam as a very severe cyclonic storm with the maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph gusting to 150 kmph by forenoon of October 28.
Odisha has placed 60 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams on alert. Seventeen National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and 225 Fire Services teams are also ready. Together, that makes 302 teams on standby. They are on alert, not necessarily deployed in the field. Such teams support evacuation, rescue and relief work.
Officials have been told to move people out of vulnerable areas. Elderly residents, pregnant women and patients needing medical care are the priority. Identifying them early helps rescuers act quickly once the weather turns.
