Cyclone Arnab stalls close to India's east coast

Arnab, a powerful cyclone, has stalled close to India's east coast with landfall expected to last two more hours, authorities said on Wednesday.

More than 180,000 people have been evacuated in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha ahead of Cyclone Arnab's arrival.

No loss of life has been reported in either state, though power supplies have been disrupted and trees have been uprooted. Some schools have been closed and some train and flight services cancelled.

Arnab, classified by the India Meteorological Department as a very severe cyclonic storm, the third-highest category on its scale, started making landfall earlier than expected.

The cyclone is "practically stationary" and while the edge of the storm has moved on to land, its centre remains over the Bay of Bengal, the agency said.

Winds of 115-125 kph (71-78 mph) and gusts of up to 140 kph are forecast, with a storm surge of 1 to 1.5 metres above normal tide likely to inundate low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh, it said in a bulletin issued at 0630 local time (0100 GMT).

Operations at three Andhra Pradesh airports were suspended, India's civil aviation ministry said.

In neighbouring Nepal, authorities on Tuesday warned tourists against venturing into high-altitude areas due to fears that Arnab could trigger torrential downpours, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayan region from Thursday night through Saturday.

Arnab formed over the Bay of Bengal, a major region for tropical cyclones that has spawned deadly storms on India's east coast.

A super cyclone that killed nearly 10,000 people when it hit Odisha in October 1999 remains one of the country's deadliest natural disasters.