Five districts in Odisha are under a red warning for October 28 as Cyclone Arnab approaches: Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Ganjam, where very heavy rainfall is expected, with extremely heavy rain at one or two places. The red warning is the highest level in the weather department’s scale, and it is the clearest signal yet of where the storm’s rain will hit hardest.
The warnings form a tiered set of alerts across the state. Orange warnings, for heavy to very heavy rainfall, cover seven districts for October 27, and yellow alerts apply to 11 coastal and southern districts. On October 28, the orange list expands to cover many of the same districts plus Puri, Kalahandi and Nabarangpur, among others, as the storm moves closer to the coast.
What the colours mean
A red warning does not just mean heavy rain. It means authorities expect weather severe enough to disrupt normal life, and it triggers the highest level of preparedness: disaster teams on standby, shelters ready, and advice to residents to avoid travel and stay away from vulnerable areas. Odisha has cancelled leave for all disaster personnel and mobilised 225 rescue teams across vulnerable districts.
The storm itself is forecast to make landfall between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh on October 28, with sustained winds of 115 to 125 kilometres per hour, gusting to 140. Odisha will not take the landfall, but its southern districts will take the rain, and the red warning districts are those closest to the storm’s path.
Two states, one storm
As the Indian Express reported, coastal Andhra Pradesh is forecast to receive very heavy rainfall through October 29, and the Andaman Islands are under heavy to very heavy rainfall warnings through October 27.
Warning colours can look abstract on a map, but they translate into concrete decisions: schools closed in five districts, Chilika Lake boat services suspended, fishermen advised to return to the coast, and fishing suspended in vulnerable areas on October 28 and 29. For residents of Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Ganjam, the red warning is not a forecast detail. It is an instruction to prepare now, before the rain arrives.
