The Cyclone Arnab rescue effort in Odisha saw the Indian Coast Guard pull six people out of a flooded health centre in Ganjam district on Thursday. An ALH Mk-III helicopter from the Coast Guard Air Enclave at Bhubaneswar winched them up from the Public Health Centre (PHC) at Jagmohan and flew them to safety.

Two women, two children and one elderly person were among them.

Ganjam administration sought help on Thursday morning

The call came from the Ganjam District Administration on Thursday morning, according to the Coast Guard. Floodwater left behind by the storm had surrounded the health centre and stranded the people inside.

The air enclave scrambled the helicopter despite severe weather.

Over Jagmohan, the aircrew located the heavily flooded building and held the helicopter in a steady hover above the submerged area. All six were then winched aboard. The Coast Guard described it as a precision hover, flown in difficult conditions over water that had covered the ground around the centre.

Six rescued shifted to Dharakote health centre

The group was flown to the Community Health Centre (CHC) at Dharakote, also in Ganjam district, and handed over safely, the Coast Guard said.

Cyclone Arnab rescue assets on round-the-clock standby

Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (North East) has placed its air and surface assets on high alert as the cyclone continues to affect the eastern coast. The force said these assets are ready for search and rescue (SAR) missions and for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) work.

Its aircraft in the region are on standby round the clock. They are tasked with aerial surveillance, emergency evacuations and air-dropping essential relief material to communities cut off by the floods.

ALH Mk-III flies Coast Guard rescue missions

The ALH Mk-III is the Coast Guard's version of the Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv, built by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The twin-engine helicopter carries a rescue winch and is used for search and rescue, maritime surveillance and medical evacuation along the coast.

Storm brought very heavy rain to south Odisha

Arnab strengthened into a very severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal earlier this week. It was forecast to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, with south Odisha taking heavy rain under its influence. Ganjam was among the districts placed under a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall on Wednesday.

The Ganjam district administration had readied cyclone and temporary shelters for around 1.5 lakh people ahead of the storm.

Coast Guard rescue record on the eastern seaboard

Regional Headquarters (North East) was among the commands coordinating the August search for the carrier MV Ocean Winner off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, after the vessel lost contact with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Sri Vijaya Puram.

Helicopter flood work is familiar ground for the service. In July, Coast Guard crews rescued 170 people across Daman, Silvassa and South Gujarat in 11 operations, some of them by helicopter.

Off Odisha itself, ICGS Vishwast stabilised the flooding chemical tanker MT Seagull 9 off Paradip in late September, ending the threat of the vessel capsizing.