30,000 evacuated as Cyclone Murasu hits India's coast
The second storm in seven days uprooted trees and power lines in Andhra Pradesh, though no deaths were reported immediately after landfall.
By Fatou Mitchell ·
Residents of Andhra Pradesh faced a second major storm in less than one week when Cyclone Murasu made landfall early Tuesday morning. The India Meteorological Department confirmed the system came ashore near Ongole in Prakasam district at approximately 1:00 a.m. local time. Winds tore through the region, knocking down electricity poles and uprooting trees, while heavy rain flooded low-lying areas.
Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, told Reuters that authorities had not reported any deaths or injuries as of the latest update. He confirmed that infrastructure damage was extensive, with trees and power poles displaced by the force of the wind. The Press Trust of India reported that thousands of trees were felled and hundreds of power poles were damaged in the districts of Prakasam and Bapatla.
Fishing boats were wrecked and standing crops were damaged, according to PTI. Many areas remained underwater following the initial surge. Authorities began evacuating residents on Monday and planned to move approximately 30,000 people to safety across the state before the peak of the storm arrived.
Krishnamma, a fisherman from Kothapatnam in Prakasam district, described the event to PTI as the most dangerous cyclone witnessed in the area during the last 14 years. He stated that roughly 400 families from his village had been relocated to higher ground prior to the storm's arrival.
Home Minister Amit Shah said on X that he had spoken with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu regarding the impact of the cyclone. Shah stated that the Central Government would provide all kinds of assistance and support. He noted that national and state disaster response teams were already deployed on the ground to manage the situation.
The IMD forecast that heavy to very heavy rainfall would continue across several districts throughout the day. The agency predicted that Andhra Pradesh and the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu would bear the brunt of the storm. Murasu is also bringing heavy rain to Puducherry and Odisha, extending the area of disruption beyond the immediate coastal zone.
Murasu formed over the Bay of Bengal, a region that regularly generates severe storms along India's east coast. Its arrival followed closely behind Cyclone Arnab, which caused heavy damage in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha just days earlier. The back-to-back systems have compounded the challenges for local authorities and residents managing recovery efforts.
