In brief
Cyclone Murasu made landfall on India's eastern coast near Ongole, destroying trees, toppling power poles and flooding low‑lying districts in Andhra Pradesh. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far, but authorities have evacuated around 30,000 residents and have begun distributing relief. The central government has pledged assistance and strong storms are forecast to linger in the region for hours.
At about 1 a.m. on Tuesday, Cyclone Murasu slammed onto India’s eastern coast near Ongole in Prakasam district, uprooting trees, toppling power poles and flooding low‑lying areas, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed.”
According to the IMD, the storm made landfall close to Ongole at about 1 a.m. local time (19:30 GMT) with wind speeds recorded at 100 to 110 kilometres per hour – a range reported by the Reuters‑associated snippet that noted landfall between 03:30 and 05:30 local time.”
The surge of wind tore through Prakasam and Bapatla districts, where thousands of trees were felled, hundreds of electricity poles were knocked down, and fishing boats were wrecked; standing crops also suffered heavy damage and many low‑lying pockets were left underwater, the Press Trust of India (PTI) and Al Jazeera reported.”
Authorities began evacuating residents on Monday and, according to Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, “about 30,000 people have been moved to safety.” No deaths or injuries have been reported to date.”
Amit Shah, India’s Home Minister, tweeted that he had spoken to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu about the cyclone’s impact, assuring that “the Central Government will provide all kinds of assistance and support,” and added that national and state disaster response teams were already on the ground.”
Krishnamma, a fisherman from Kothapatnam in Prakasam district, told PTI that he had moved roughly 400 families from his village before the storm hit, calling Murasu “the most dangerous cyclone we have witnessed in the last 14 years.”
"We moved about 400 families—before the storm hit, we were ready," said Krishnamma, a fisherman from Kothapatnam.
Heavy rains are forecast to continue onto the next day as the IMD warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall across several districts; other affected areas slated for significant precipitation include Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Odisha, the Al Jazeera report noted.”
Murasu formed over the Bay of Bengal—a region that routinely generates intense tropical systems—and struck the coastline just days after Cyclone Arnab had already caused severe damage in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Odisha, further compounding the region’s vulnerability.”
