Cyclone Arnab · News Corner

Cyclone Arnab's Bill: Rs 500 Crore in Power Damage — and 36 Trains Cancelled

By Beauty of Bharat · Published 30 October 2026

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Cyclone Arnab crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast in the early hours of Wednesday, 28 October 2026, and left at least Rs 500 crore of damage to the state's electricity network alone, with the state's total preliminary loss put at Rs 4,600 crore — while floods in Odisha forced the cancellation of 36 trains and the diversion of 30 more on the busy Howrah–Chennai route.

This post reflects reporting available on 30 October 2026, including Outlook (PTI), The Hindu, Daily Pioneer and New Indian Express. Where sources disagree or a detail is unconfirmed, the article says so.

What the storm did in Andhra Pradesh

Cyclone Arnab, described as a very severe cyclonic storm, crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast in the early hours of Wednesday, 28 October 2026. Winds reached nearly 160 kmph, according to the state's energy minister, damaging almost every village in districts including East Godavari, West Godavari, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Konaseema and Kakinada.

West Godavari was among the worst-hit districts, with 3,700 power poles uprooted there alone. Across the state, nearly 15,000 electricity poles, conductors and distribution transformers were damaged, and power supply was disrupted in nearly 400 villages. Crops across 2.24 lakh hectares were also affected, and seven people died, according to the Daily Pioneer.

Narsapur and nearby villages, close to where the cyclone crossed the coast, suffered extensive damage to the electricity network, and cellular telephone services were affected in several places.

The bill: Rs 500 crore for power, Rs 4,600 crore overall

Andhra Pradesh Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar said on Thursday in West Godavari district that the cyclone had caused preliminary losses estimated at approximately Rs 500 crore to the state's electricity infrastructure, according to PTI. He said a comprehensive assessment would give a clearer picture of the damage.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who surveyed the cyclone-hit Krishna and Godavari regions from the air, put Andhra Pradesh's total preliminary loss from the cyclone at Rs 4,600 crore. Officials said the figure is likely to rise once the full assessment is complete.

Restoration work was under way with around 1,700 personnel already engaged, plus 500 more mobilised from the state's power distribution companies and 500 electricity personnel from Telangana. Tamil Nadu also agreed to send teams and materials. The minister said the government aimed to restore power in cyclone-hit areas within 24 hours, and later said the target was complete restoration by Friday night.

Trains hit as rivers rose in Odisha

The storm's impact spread beyond Andhra Pradesh. In Odisha, the swollen Bahuda river rose above the danger mark at two railway bridges in Ganjam district, and floodwater near bridges and submerged tracks disrupted services on the Howrah–Chennai route.

Officials said 36 trains were cancelled, 30 diverted and eight regulated or rescheduled as a safety step for passengers. East Coast Railway cancelled 24 trains and diverted 22, while South Coast Railway cancelled 12 and diverted eight. Earlier reports carried lower partial counts, including nine cancellations and 14 diversions, as the disruption widened during the day.

Odisha sent more than 300 teams from multiple disaster response agencies into flood-hit Ganjam and eight other districts for rescue work on Thursday. More than 1,000 villages were affected by flooding in Ganjam and Gajapati districts, and a stretch of National Highway 326 in Gajapati district was washed away, cutting the route between Ganjam and Mohana.

What happens next

The cyclone weakened into a depression over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining south Odisha on Thursday morning and was expected to weaken further into a well-marked low-pressure area. Normal life was gradually returning in most battered areas of Andhra Pradesh, though a few pockets were still recovering, with fallen trees and poles cleared from roads and drinking water supplied through generators where power was cut.

One thing to watch: the India Meteorological Department said a separate low-pressure area over the South Andaman Sea was likely to intensify into a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal around 31 October. All loss figures remain preliminary until the full damage assessment is complete.

Context and what to watch

The damage figures in this story come with an important qualifier: both are preliminary and are expected to be revised. Andhra Pradesh's electricity network suffered preliminary damage of about Rs 500 crore, according to Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar, citing PTI, while the state's total preliminary loss was put at Rs 4,600 crore by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. Preliminary estimates after a cyclone almost always move as engineers reach damaged areas and claims are assessed, so the final bill — and the central assistance that follows from it — will be a later story than the first announcements.

The more immediate disruption is on the rails and in the floodwater. The swollen Bahuda river rose above the danger mark at two railway bridges in Odisha's Ganjam district, and officials said 36 trains were cancelled, 30 diverted and eight regulated or rescheduled on the Howrah–Chennai route as a safety step. The cyclone itself weakened into a depression over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining south Odisha on Thursday morning, but Odisha was still dealing with severe flooding in more than 1,000 villages, and the India Meteorological Department said a new low-pressure area over the South Andaman Sea could become a depression around 31 October. Restoration of power, normalisation of trains, and that next system are the three things to watch.

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