The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said that the depression over the east-central and adjoining south-east Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and make landfall on the Andhra coast on October 28 post-noon.

Accordingly, heavy rains are expected along the eastern coast from Bengal to Tamil Nadu between October 28 and 30.

In its latest update, the weather department said that the depression lay centred at about 440 km north-northwest of Sri Vijaya Puram (Andaman Islands), 880 km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

The weather system will move southwards on Sunday and intensify into a deep depression. It would turn into a cyclonic storm over the East-central & adjoining West-central Bay of Bengal by Monday morning, and into a severe cyclonic storm over West-central Bay of Bengal around the morning of Tuesday.

During the landfall, the storm will be very severe with a maximum sustained wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph by Wednesday afternoon (October 28).

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Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Kolkata said that a low-pressure area became well-marked early on Saturday. From Tuesday, squally winds are expected along and off the Bengal coast. Kolkata would witness light to moderate rain with a forecast of heavy to very heavy showers at scattered places in some south Bengal districts between Oct 28 and 30.

The cyclone would be named 'Arnab', meaning ocean in Bengali and was contributed by Bangladesh to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)/Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) list for North Indian Ocean cyclones.

Schools shut, preventive measures in place

The weather system has affected schools across the coastal states. In Odisha, the government has shut schools in five districts. Andhra Pradesh has put Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri on October 28.

ALSO READ: Cyclone Alert Over Bay Of Bengal: IMD Forecasts Extremely Heavy Rainfall In Odisha, Andhra From October 27

The state government has deployed around 60 Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) teams, 17 NDRF teams and 225 fire service teams ahead of cyclone Arnab. In Andhra Pradesh, 12 districts - Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Alluri Sitharama Raju, Kakinada, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema, East Godavari, West Godavari, Eluru and Polavaram - have been put on high alert.