Thousands of villages are still waiting for the lights to come back on. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday, 29 October 2026, convened a high-level review of relief and restoration operations following Cyclone Arnab, which struck the state's coastal districts and left a wide trail of damage to power infrastructure, roads, and standing crops across 16 districts.

Power Restoration: 4,771 of 5,400 Villages Back Online Under APEPDCL

The numbers tell a story of rapid but incomplete recovery. Under APEPDCL (Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited), which serves the eastern coastal belt, electricity has been restored to 4,771 of the 5,400 affected villages — leaving 629 villages still in the dark. In the central districts, APCPDCL (Andhra Pradesh Central Power Distribution Company Limited) reports that 835 of 915 affected villages in Krishna district have been reconnected, with 80 villages yet to receive supply. The dual-agency nature of Andhra Pradesh's power grid — a legacy of the state's 2014 bifurcation — means restoration timelines can differ sharply by geography, and both agencies are now working against the clock.

2,396 Km of Roads Damaged — West Godavari Takes the Worst Hit

The cyclone punished the state's road network hard. Across Roads and Buildings (R&B) jurisdiction, 2,396 kilometres of major district and state highways have been damaged. West Godavari bore the heaviest load at 552 km, followed by Konaseema (396 km), East Godavari (372 km), Srikakulam (309 km), Anakapalli (236 km), and Vijayanagaram (211 km).

Of 62 road breaches, 22 have been repaired; of 34 gaps, 13 are cleared. Engineers have also restored 83 of 102 damaged culverts and cross-drainage structures. All 2,264 fallen trees on roads have been removed — including 183 cleared in a single two-hour window between 6 and 8 PM, with 127 from Kakinada alone. Of 133 locations where movement was blocked, 99 are now open; 34 remain cut off.

333,268 Hectares of Crops in 16 Districts Under Threat

The agricultural toll is the most uncertain — and potentially the most consequential. A preliminary report places 3,33,268 hectares of agricultural cropland across 16 districts under cyclone impact. West Godavari leads with 76,752 hectares, followed by Kakinada (52,253 ha), East Godavari (49,959 ha), Konaseema (46,845 ha), and Krishna (44,836 ha). The Agriculture Department flagged a critical timing problem: many crops are currently in their flowering and grain-formation stages — the most vulnerable window. The department noted that waterlogging is gradually receding, offering some relief to submerged fields. Final crop loss figures are yet to be certified.

Konaseema Accounts for Half of All Horticultural Losses

The storm also tore through horticulture. Across 15 districts, 22,452 hectares of horticultural crops have been affected. Konaseema alone accounts for 11,229 hectares — roughly half the total — with East Godavari (4,423 ha) a distant second. Other affected districts include Krishna (1,350 ha), Bapatla (1,182 ha), Kakinada (1,048 ha), West Godavari (903 ha), Eluru (415 ha), and Guntur (415 ha).

Andhra Pradesh's coastline on the Bay of Bengal has made this kind of post-cyclone audit a grim routine. After Cyclone Hudhud in 2014, the Naidu administration built rapid-restoration protocols for exactly these scenarios — district-wise power and road checklists, phased clearance timelines, and early agriculture loss mapping. That institutional muscle is now being tested again. The final crop assessment and any central government relief allocation will define the relief chapter that follows.