Live: Cyclone Arnab approaching Andhra coast for landfall by October 28 as downpours batter Tamil Nadu

Schools throughout Ramanathapuram district, four administrative taluks in the Nilgiris, and Theni district's Periyakulam block will stay shut on Monday (October 26) on account of widespread precipitation. Ramanathapuram District Collector Sivaguru Prabhakar ordered a district-wide closure for educational institutions. In the Nilgiris, District Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru announced holidays for schools located across Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kotagiri, and Kundah taluks. Theni District Collector Sivakrishnamurthy similarly instituted a closure for all schools operating within Periyakulam block.

The Odisha administration accelerated disaster preparedness measures on Sunday (October 25), dispatching field crews and essential gear while Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi assigned eight cabinet ministers to supervise vulnerable regional districts. Mr. Majhi stated that even though current projections point toward an Andhra Pradesh landfall, the Odisha government will take zero chances and remain thoroughly equipped for all eventualities. He commanded administrative teams to focus squarely on community safety, timely evacuations, and rapid crisis management, underscoring the state's firm zero-casualty objective.

Coastal belts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha stand on maximum alert as an intensifying cyclonic storm approaches, forecast to make landfall during the morning hours of October 28 packing sustained wind velocities of 115 kmph to 125 kmph, with peak gusts touching 140 kmph. According to an evening weather advisory released by the India Meteorological Department on Sunday (October 25, 2026), the depression situated over eastcentral and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal shifted southwestward at a pace of 5 kmph over the preceding six hours, upgrading into a deep depression. Its center was tracked roughly 420 km north-northwest of Sri Vijaya Puram in the Andaman archipelago and about 870 km east-southeast of Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam. The weather disturbance is projected to intensify into a very severe storm before crossing the coastal tracts of Andhra Pradesh and Yanam on October 28, prompting widespread evacuation drives and comprehensive disaster arrangements.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has signaled heavy to very heavy precipitation over isolated pockets within Pudukottai, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram districts this Monday. Concurrently, isolated torrential spells are anticipated across Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Karur, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, and Nagapattinam districts. Across other tracts of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal, moderate showers accompanied by widespread lightning and thunder are likely to prevail. Several localities could also experience sudden wind squalls accelerating between 40 kmph and 50 kmph during storm spells. Meteorological outlooks point toward continuing moderate-to-heavy rainy conditions across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal, with cyclone-related impacts looming through October 28.