Andhra Pradesh Estimates ₹4,600 Crore Loss From Cyclone Arnab as Relief and Power Restoration Works Continue

UPDATE - follow-up to Cyclone Arnab updates: Cyclone wreaks havoc in Odisha, over 55,000 evacuated across 9 districts: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu stated that Cyclone Arnab caused an estimated loss of ₹4,600 crore in the state based on preliminary assessments following his aerial survey of the Krishna and Godavari regions.

Relief And Rescue

In Odisha, more than 300 disaster response teams were deployed on Thursday, October 29, 2026, for rescue work in Ganjam and eight other flood-hit districts. Meanwhile, the Indian Coast Guard rescued all 20 crew members from the stranded Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier vessel Sigma Pearl in the Bay of Bengal off the Andhra Pradesh coast. In Srikakulam district, about 10,000 people moved to school relief camps after the Bahuda river flooded Ichchapuram, where crop damage reached 21,519 hectares and vehicles remain barred on the Kolkata-Chennai national highway.

Infrastructure And Power

Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar reported ₹500 crore in damage to the power sector alone, prompting the deployment of over 1,700 personnel, 500 DISCOM employees, and 500 extra workers from Telangana, with a special focus on Palakollu, Bhimavaram, and Narsapur. Power outages left village and ward secretariat staff struggling to charge phones and biometric devices for the NTR Bharosa pension distribution. Rail operations on the Howrah-Chennai route faced major disruptions, with 36 trains cancelled, 30 diverted, and 8 regulated or rescheduled, including cancellations like the Bhubaneswar-Visakhapatnam Vande Bharat Express due to flooded bridges near Ichchapuram.

Political And Official Actions

Chief Minister Naidu directed officials to speed up power and road repairs and urged telecom companies to restore mobile networks quickly. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed distress over the losses in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, calling on the Union Government to provide timely help through the PMCARES fund and asking party workers to assist those affected.

Context

Severe cyclonic storms regularly impact India's eastern coastline during the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, bringing torrential rainfall that routinely overwhelms local infrastructure and inundates agricultural land. Large-scale rescue operations, extensive power outages, and transport disruptions are common immediate consequences of such high-intensity weather events. Disaster management authorities typically rely on multi-agency coordination between state and central forces to handle evacuations and subsequent infrastructure restoration.