Hyderabad: Five persons were killed as the very severe cyclonic storm ‘Arnab’ crossed the Andhra Pradesh coastline near Narsapuram in West Godavari district on Wednesday (October 28). The storm weakened into a severe cyclone by 10 am and a depression by the evening, announced chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at a news conference at the state secretariat.The victims were killed in incidents involving electrocution and the collapse of trees and walls, he said. A total of 15,000 electric poles and thousands of trees in coconut gardens in the directly hit Konaseema district fell under the fury of the winds that peaked at up to 150 kilometres per hour following Arnab’s landfall.A tree lies uprooted over a car in the wake of Arnab’s landfall. Photo: PTI/Nani Narendra.Konaseema, adjoining the Bay of Bengal on one side and streams of the river Godavari on the other, in addition to the adjacent West Godavari district were the worst affected by the cyclone.Naidu added that Arnab played truant at one time as it progressed towards the coast on Tuesday night. It came to a standstill in the sea at 11:15 pm but moved slowly upwards later.Thousands of people were moved to relief shelters in the run-up to the storm’s arrival. The authorities in neighbouring Odisha also subsequently carried out evacuations.People gather at a temporary shelter set up inside a school ahead of landfall. Photo: AP/Mahesh Kumar A.After landfall the storm lost its strength, following which rainfall accompanied by gusty winds hit Andhra Pradesh from the Krishna to Srikakulam districts along the state’s middle and north coasts respectively.The average rainfall in Visakhapatnam district alone was 21.8 cm (218 mm).The state government deployed 30,000 staff for rescue and relief operations in line with its disaster management plan. However, power blackouts could not be avoided in Konaseema and West Godavari. Naidu expected that power supply in the two districts would resume only by Friday evening.Naidu earlier spoke to Union home minister Amit Shah, who also holds the portfolio of disaster management, and followed it up with a letter to the Union government seeking assistance.An excavator clears uprooted trees blocking a road amid rain following strong winds triggered by Arnab, in Odisha’s Gajapati district. Photo: PTI.The disaster left 33 air services between Hyderabad and Vijayawada and over 50 train services along the route cancelled.Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government announced a slew of measures as aid to affected people, including 25 kilograms of rice per family, Rs 1,000 per head as cash relief and Rs 25,000 per hectare to compensate for crop loss. Naidu also claimed that not a single irrigation tank had breached in the villages, though many roads and other infrastructure were battered.