A Second System Forms As Andhra Puts Cyclone Damage At 46 Billion Rupees

Andhra Pradesh has put preliminary damage from Cyclone Arnab at 46 billion rupees and asked the central government to send an assessment team. Forecasters warned that a fresh weather system over the Bay of Bengal is likely to bring heavy rain back to the same coast early next week

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A low-pressure area lay over the south Andaman Sea on Friday morning and was very likely to deepen into a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal around Saturday, the India Meteorological Department said. It is expected to produce isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over coastal Andhra Pradesh on 2 and 3 November, with thunderstorms, lightning and winds gusting to 60 kilometres an hour. Strong surface winds are forecast along the coast until 3 November.

That would reach the state before it has finished repairing the damage from the first storm, which crossed the coast on Wednesday.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the state had submitted its preliminary estimate to the central government and would ensure compensation reached affected families, farmers and fishermen. He put the death toll at seven, up from the five the state reported on Wednesday, and announced payments of 500,000 rupees to each bereaved family.

More than 70,000 hectares of paddy and over 10,000 hectares of horticultural crops were damaged, according to early estimates. Around 12,500 trees came down in West Godavari district alone, and more than 15,000 electricity poles were uprooted across the affected areas.

The state aims to restore power fully by Saturday evening, prioritising household connections before agricultural ones, with additional crews brought in from neighbouring Telangana. About 80 per cent of supply has been restored in Visakhapatnam district, with work continuing in Konaseema, Kakinada and the Godavari districts. Mobile coverage was disrupted after privately operated telecom towers lost power.

More than 28,000 people were moved to relief shelters, where national and state disaster response teams are deployed and kits containing rice, pulses, cooking oil and vegetables are being distributed. Roads blocked by fallen trees are being cleared and drinking water supplies restored.

Naidu said farmers who had insured their crops would be able to claim for lost yield, and urged those without cover to take it out. A detailed damage assessment will follow the preliminary report.

The remnants of the cyclone have meanwhile moved inland over northern Chhattisgarh and eastern Madhya Pradesh, bringing isolated heavy rain on Friday to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim.