Heavy rains lash Andhra coast as Cyclone Murasu makes landfall
The storm uprooted several trees and electric poles, while continuous rainfall left many low-lying areas inundated
Cyclone Murasu struck the south Andhra Pradesh coast with heavy rainfall and gale-force winds, prompting mass evacuations, flight cancellations, and widespread disruptions across coastal districts, while neighboring states took urgent precautionary measures.
Cyclone Murasu struck the south Andhra Pradesh coast with heavy rainfall and gale-force winds, prompting mass evacuations, flight cancellations, and widespread disruptions across coastal districts, while neighboring states took urgent precautionary measures.
Cyclone Murasu struck the south Andhra Pradesh coast with heavy rainfall and gale-force winds, prompting mass evacuations, flight cancellations, and widespread disruptions across coastal districts, while neighboring states took urgent precautionary measures.
Heavy rains lashed several coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh as Cyclone Murasu made landfall in the early hours of Tuesday, marking the second storm to hit the state in less than a week.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the cyclone began making landfall around 1 am, bringing heavy rainfall accompanied by gale-force winds reaching speeds of up to 110 kmph, with gusts of up to 120 kmph.
"The landfall process commenced at 0100 hours IST on November 3. The forward sector of the wall cloud is entering the coast, while the wall cloud region is very close to the coast," the weather agency said.
The storm uprooted several trees and electric poles, while continuous rainfall left many low-lying areas inundated. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far. Authorities have evacuated thousands of people to safer locations.
As of 1.30 am, the cyclone was centred over the west-central Bay of Bengal, close to the South Andhra Pradesh coast, about 40 km southeast of Ongole, 60 km northeast of Kavali and 70 km south of Bapatla.
The IMD has also forecast a storm surge of around 1.0-1.5 metres above the astronomical tide, which is likely to inundate low-lying areas of south coastal Andhra Pradesh until the morning of November 3.
At least 19 domestic flights were cancelled at Vijayawada, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam airports in Andhra Pradesh on Monday. Of these, IndiGo cancelled 10 flights and Air India Express cancelled two at Vijayawada Airport.
Visakhapatnam Airport cancelled four flights, while Tirupati Airport cancelled three.
In Tamil Nadu, several parts of Chennai, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts have been experiencing torrential rainfall since Sunday night. Chennai Airport authorities cancelled several flights and advised passengers to contact their respective airlines for assistance.
In Odisha, the government has moved over 1.60 lakh people to safety and deployed disaster response teams in five southern districts. The state is yet to recover from the devastation caused by last week's Cyclone Arnab, which claimed at least six lives in subsequent floods and landslides.