At Least six have been killed after Cyclone Arnab made landfall on India’s east coast, snapping electricity lines and damaging property in Andhra Pradesh, officials said Thursday.
The cyclone hit Andhra Pradesh as a very severe cyclonic storm, unleashing heavy rain and wind, the India Meteorological Department said Wednesday morning.
An official of the Andhra Pradesh government put the number of deaths at six, while The Times of India, quoting local officials, said nine people died. Those who died were due to electrocution and fallen trees and houses.
Some 15,000 electricity poles were damaged, said the statement by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. In most of the districts, power supply resumed on Thursday but not in Konaseema and West Godavari districts.
In anticipation of the cyclone, over 180,000 people from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, in the path of the cyclone, were evacuated. Schools were shut down and train and flight operations were cancelled.
A cargo ship registered in the Marshall Islands with 20 crew on board was stranded off the coast of Andhra Pradesh as the seas were rough, officials said.
The cyclone developed in the Bay of Bengal before making landfall and weakening. The authorities carried on with the restoration work in the affected districts.
