India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh evacuated thousands of residents Wednesday ahead of Cyclone Arnab’s landfall along the southeastern coast, where it brought heavy rainfall and powerful winds. The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority said the landfall process had remained stationary for two hours. “The chance of completely crossing the shore by afternoon. Strong gusty winds and rains continue along the shore. People should remain vigilant even today,” the authority said on the US social media platform X. Authorities in Andhra Pradesh shifted 84,396 people to 290 relief shelters, while a total of 2,199 shelters were designated across the state, All India Radio reported.
The cyclone, which began making landfall early Wednesday, caused widespread disruption, with strong winds uprooting trees and damaging local infrastructure, the broadcaster said. Authorities in Andhra Pradesh and the eastern state of Odisha also ordered school closures as a precautionary measure. Fishing activities were suspended, while rescue teams were kept on standby to respond to emergencies. The administration of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also ordered schools to remain closed for two days beginning Tuesday.
India’s Meteorological Department said a deep depression over the east-central and southeastern Bay of Bengal had moved westward and intensified into Cyclone Arnab.
Anadolu Agency reports Cyclone Arnab's landfall in Andhra Pradesh, the evacuations, shelters, school closures and damage, attributing each detail to officials or All India Radio. It never tells the reader that a warming climate makes intense tropical cyclones like this one more frequent or more severe, so the storm reads as a weather event with no wider cause.
Leaves out the climate link
Serious
“where it brought heavy rainfall and powerful winds”
Why this matters
The words "heavy rainfall and powerful winds" describe what the cyclone brought, and S7 adds trees uprooted and infrastructure damaged. Nowhere in the article is there any word on climate or warming.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away believing Cyclone Arnab is a routine natural hazard, with nothing about the planet's warming linked to its intensity or its rainfall.
The context
Human-caused warming has made intense tropical cyclones and heavy rainfall more frequent or more severe. One short line saying so would have given the reader that fact.
How we know
On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “climate” and “warming”.
Cyclone Arnab made landfall along the southeastern coast, bringing heavy rainfall and powerful winds. Climate change is making intense tropical cyclones and the extreme rain they bring more frequent and more severe.