Gajapati Gears Up for Cyclone Arnab With 15000 Vulnerable Evacuated

Gajapati district is bracing for Cyclone Arnab by evacuating 15,000 people to 281 shelters, providing emergency support to pregnant women, and deploying NDRF and ODRAF teams to handle potential landslides and storm impacts across the region.

Cyclone Preparedness in Gajapati

A total of 15,000 vulnerable people have been identified for evacuation ahead of Cyclone Arnab, with authorities identifying 281 cyclone and temporary shelters and making arrangements to accommodate people, District Collector and Magistrate Akshay Sunil Agrawal said. The district administration began preparations two days ago in view of the government’s forecast, which includes an orange warning for October 27-28 and a red warning for October 28-29, Agrawal said.

"In light of the government’s forecast for Cyclone Arnub—which includes an orange warning for the 27th–28th and a red warning for the 28th–29th—we began our preparations in the district two days ago,” he told ANI. He stated that the identified shelters were equipped with provisions for food, sleeping arrangements, sanitation and drinking water to accommodate people who may need to be evacuated. “We have identified a total of 281 cyclone and temporary shelters. These facilities are fully equipped to accommodate evacuated individuals, with provisions for food, sleeping arrangements, sanitation, and drinking water,” he said.

Emergency Support and Rescue Measures

Maternity Care and Landslide Mitigation

The administration has also made arrangements for pregnant women nearing their expected delivery dates. According to Agrawal, 210 pregnant women whose deliveries are expected within the next 15 days are being relocated to maternity homes, Community Health Centres (CHCs) and Primary Health Centres (PHCs). “Additionally, 210 pregnant women—with expected delivery dates within the next 15 days—are being relocated to maternity homes and various Community Health Centres (CHC) or Primary Health Centres (PHC),” he said. “In landslide-prone areas, we have conducted extensive awareness campaigns using public address systems, and we have pre-positioned essential machinery—such as JCBs and other heavy equipment—to respond to any potential landslides,” the district collector added.

Deployment of Disaster Response Teams

As part of the emergency response arrangements, 10 fire service teams are available in the district. The state government has also provided two Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams and one National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team, which have been deployed across various blocks, Agrawal said. Meanwhile, severe cyclonic storm ‘Arnab’ over the West Central Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm within the next 12 hours and cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam by the forenoon of October 28, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianetnews Editorial staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)