Cyclone damages homes and farmland in eastern India and kills at least 3 people

KAKINADA, India (AP) — A cyclone battered India ’s eastern Andhra Pradesh state Wednesday, killing at least three people and damaging homes and farmland after authorities evacuated tens of thousands of people.

The winds and heavy rains from Cyclone Arnab caused widespread damage to houses, roads and electricity infrastructure, with 14 coastal districts badly affected, said the state’s chief minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu. He requested urgent assistance from the central government.

Arnab made landfall early Wednesday as a very severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds reaching 135 kph (84 mph) before weakening as it moved inland, authorities said.

Two women were electrocuted in separate incidents in the port city of Visakhapatnam, while another person was killed when a tree fell in East Godavari district, officials said.

The cyclone damaged 79,000 acres of crops and dozens of homes. In the fertile Konaseema district, banana and coconut plantations had extensive damage and trees and power poles were uprooted, disrupting electricity across the district, officials said.

The India Meteorological Department said heavy rainfall as well as strong winds would linger in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and parts of southern Odisha state as the storm dissipated. The rainfall flooded several low-lying areas in Visakhapatnam.

At least 180,000 people were evacuated from low-lying and flood-prone areas in Andhra Pradesh before the cyclone. Authorities also canceled some train services, fishing boats were secured and medical teams were deployed to affected areas.

The state’s disaster management authority said more than 12 million people live along the cyclone’s expected path.

In neighboring Odisha state, officials planned to evacuate about 48,000 people from areas likely to be affected by the storm.

In Nepal to the north, the disaster agency warned of heavy rain, lightning and thunderstorms across much of the country. It advised tourists to avoid high-altitude and Himalayan areas and warned of possible road and air travel disruptions.

Nepal continues to recover from devastating flash floods in August that killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands more missing. More flooding was reported earlier this month in northern Nepal. ___

Farooq reported from Hyderabad, India. AP journalist Binaj Gurubacharya in Kathmandu, Nepal, contributed to this report.