New cyclone threatens Andhra Pradesh coast after Cyclone Arnab landfall
A second weather system approaches the east coast less than a week after Cyclone Arnab struck the region.
A new weather system threatens to strike the Andhra Pradesh coast less than a week after Cyclone Arnab made landfall on the intervening night of August 27-28, according to India Today. The recent storm saw over 1,80,000 people evacuated across Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) uses eight Doppler Weather Radar locations on the east coast, including Chennai, Kolkata, Machilipatnam, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, Gopalpur, Sriharikota and Karaikal. The IMD has proposed adding more radars to address coverage gaps in coastal and island regions.
In Andhra Pradesh, authorities use a Cyclone Information Management System to track storm paths and identify vulnerable populations. During Cyclone Arnab, the state opened more than 2,000 shelters across 20 districts and deployed nearly 1,100 medical teams. However, the state's preparedness dashboard indicated that certain local administrative units had failed to provide full details regarding their available shelters and readiness.
Odisha employs an Early Warning Dissemination System covering 1,205 villages in six coastal districts. This includes 122 alert towers positioned within 1.5 kilometres of the coast to ensure communication if networks fail.
Tamil Nadu focuses on urban flooding management, particularly in Chennai. The Greater Chennai Corporation has worked on hundreds of kilometres of stormwater drains and prepared pumps and equipment to manage waterlogging.
