VISAKHAPATNAM — Andhra Pradesh is moving about 89,000 people out of its coastal villages and into 101 relief camps, officials said, as Cyclone Arnab strengthened into a very severe cyclonic storm and closed to within 260 km of Visakhapatnam before a landfall forecast for Wednesday morning.

The state has identified roughly 570,000 people living in high-risk coastal and low-lying areas, Outlook India reported, and the India Meteorological Department has placed 12 Andhra Pradesh districts under a red alert for Wednesday. Neighbouring Odisha has begun moving people out of low-lying and vulnerable villages in its southern districts and has shut schools there for two days.

Arnab became a very severe cyclonic storm at about 11.30 pm on Monday, the National Herald reported. At 5.30 am on Tuesday the IMD put its centre about 260 km south-east of Visakhapatnam and 300 km east-south-east of Kakinada, moving west at 22 km/h.

Forecasters expect it to cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, by Wednesday forenoon, with sustained winds of 115 to 125 km/h and gusts of up to 140 km/h. The IMD has warned of a storm surge of one to 1.5 metres above the astronomical tide, with the worst of it near Kakinada and Yanam.

The evacuation covers six coastal belts, the National Herald reported, and relief camps are being stocked with food and drinking water. All 130 residents of Hope Island, the sandbar off Kakinada, were moved to Kakinada city on Monday. Fishing families in Kakinada Rural, Uppada and Thondangi were advised to go to safer ground.

The state has set aside primary health centres, community health centres and hospitals for 4,711 pregnant women identified in vulnerable villages, officials said. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had directed officials to clear flood-prone and low-lying areas, NewsMeter reported.

Fifteen National Disaster Response Force teams are stationed at Kakinada, Konaseema, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Narsapuram, Machilipatnam and Nakkapalli, ETV Bharat reported, with further teams on standby. Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard units, with ships and aircraft, are being held ready.

The state released 270 million rupees to 20 districts for relief work, The News Minute reported. Bapatla, Krishna, Konaseema, East Godavari, West Godavari, Kakinada and Anakapalli received 20 million rupees each and the remaining 13 districts 10 million rupees each. The outlet named 11 of the districts under the red alert, among them Krishna, Konaseema, Kakinada, Guntur, Anakapalli and Visakhapatnam.

Educational institutions across the affected districts are closed, beaches have been shut to the public and movement on coastal roads was to stop from Tuesday afternoon. At least 53 trains serving Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Machilipatnam, Bhimavaram, Guntur and Visakhapatnam have been cancelled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Air India said weather tied to the storm could affect flights to and from Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada.

Sea fishing is suspended, and officials said every boat that had gone out had come back, with 30,043 reaching harbour. Energy Minister G. Ravi Kumar, after a teleconference with the heads of the state power distribution companies, said in a press release that officials "should ensure round-the-clock availability of field personnel and undertake immediate restoration of power supply wherever disruptions occur", The Federal reported. Officials told him 25,000 electricity poles were ready.

In Odisha, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has deputed eight ministers to separate locations to monitor preparations and said the state would get very heavy rain and winds gusting to 80 km/h, India.com reported, even though landfall is expected several hundred kilometres to the south. Schools, colleges and Anganwadi centres in six southern districts, among them Ganjam, Gajapati and Koraput, will stay closed on Wednesday and Thursday, and five of them are under a red alert.

"We do not want to take any chance and therefore made preparations at the highest level to protect life and property," Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said, according to India.com.

Pregnant women, the elderly, people with disabilities and children are being taken to cyclone shelters first. In Ganjam, the district collector, Keerthi Vasan V, counted 100 cyclone shelters ready and 1,000 more sites picked out if they are needed. Majhi put the deployment at about 60 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force teams and 17 NDRF teams, with 225 fire service teams on high alert. The state has cancelled leave for collectors and officers in critical posts, and is in touch with the Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force.

Boat and ferry services on Chilika lake have stopped until Thursday. "Our boats have been anchored at their respective docks so that they are not affected when the cyclone hits or its impact is felt," Amlan Nayak, the Chilika wildlife divisional forest officer, told ETV Bharat. At Paradip port, 305 fishermen have been housed at a berth.

Cabinet Secretary T. V. Somanathan asked agencies at a National Crisis Management Committee review on Tuesday to ensure no loss of life. Besides Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry, he said, the home ministry and the IMD should warn eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where heavy rain is expected.

The coast has been here before. Severe Cyclonic Storm Montha crossed near Narsapur late on 28 October last year with winds of 90 to 100 km/h gusting to 110 km/h, The Wire reported. Arnab is forecast to arrive a category stronger. The IMD said on Tuesday the storm would keep moving west-north-west until the evening and then turn north-west towards the coast.