India Evacuates Tens of Thousands as Cyclone Arnab Nears Eastern Coast Ahead of Landfall

Authorities in India have evacuated tens of thousands of people from vulnerable areas of the eastern coast, particularly in Andhra Pradesh state, ahead of Cyclone Arnab, which is forecast to make landfall on Wednesday morning. The India Meteorological Department called Arnab a "very severe" cyclonic storm and said it was centred about 260km (160 miles) southeast of Visakhapatnam. It expects the storm to cross the coast by about 11:30am local time with sustained winds of 115-125km/h and gusts up to 140km/h. Prakhar Jain, managing director of Andhra Pradesh's disaster management authority, told Reuters nearly 50,000 people were in shelters by Monday night, out of about 400,000 needing evacuation. More than 12 million people live along the projected path, the authority said. Odisha's Special Relief Commissioner, Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, said no evacuations had begun there, though schools and colleges in five districts were closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Railway authorities cancelled at least 12 trains and suspended services on 53 southern coastal routes. After landfall, the storm is forecast to move inland and north toward Nepal, where authorities warned tourists to avoid high-altitude areas from Thursday night through Saturday because of possible downpours, snowstorms and avalanches.

The left-leaning New York Times and Washington Post both lead with the evacuation of tens of thousands, and their headlines and excerpts focus on the approach to the eastern coast. The Times highlights the forecast landfall on Wednesday and the track inland toward Nepal; the Post names Andhra Pradesh and the Bay of Bengal. Their available excerpts give no wind speeds, shelter figures or named officials. Alternative outlets Al Jazeera and TRT World cover the same core facts but add detail: Al Jazeera quotes the meteorological department's "very severe" classification, wind forecasts, the 12 million people in the path and rail cancellations, while TRT World features Nepal's warnings, the August flash flood that killed about 1,500 people, and Odisha's lack of evacuations. Right-leaning outlets had not reported this story at the time of writing, while left-leaning and alternative outlets had.