Cyclone Murasu Crosses Andhra Coast Near Ongole With 120 kmph Gusts; No Deaths Reported So Far

Days after Cyclone Arnab hit Andhra Pradesh, the same coast was bracing for Murasu. The severe cyclonic storm has now made landfall.

The India Meteorological Department said Murasu crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole in Prakasam district, between 3:30 and 5:30 am IST on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Sustained winds were 100-110 kmph, gusting to 120 kmph.

No deaths reported so far

Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, said no deaths or injuries have been reported so far. He said some trees and electric poles were uprooted.

That is an early statement, not a final tally. Heavy rain is forecast to continue over south coastal Andhra Pradesh through Tuesday evening.

What the storm damaged

Prakasam, Bapatla, Palnadu and Guntur districts took the worst of it. Heavy to extremely heavy rain, power outages, communication disruptions and damaged roads were reported across those districts.

Thousands of trees were uprooted, hundreds of electric poles were damaged, and fishing boats were wrecked. Standing crops were damaged and low-lying areas went under water.

Kothapatnam in Prakasam district recorded 16.4 cm of rain between 8:30 am Monday and 5 am Tuesday, the highest in the state for that period. Naguluppalapadu (11.4 cm) and Chirala in Bapatla (10 cm) followed.

Vehicles were stranded on national highways as rain and wind cut visibility.

Naidu had said estimates suggested 6,000 to 8,000 electricity poles may be damaged, which he called a "severe threat to power supply." The reported damage so far is in the hundreds. Full assessments have not been released.

Evacuations and the human toll

Authorities began moving people out of low-lying areas on Monday and planned to relocate about 30,000 in Andhra Pradesh.

Krishnamma, a fisherman from Kothapatnam, told PTI that around 400 families from his village were evacuated with help from National Disaster Response Force teams. "This is the most dangerous cyclone we have witnessed in the last 14 years," he said.

Mangamma, another local, said she lost her house in an earlier cyclone. This time the government moved her family out before landfall, though one of her three boats was destroyed. "Fishing is our livelihood," she said.

NDRF personnel were also clearing fallen trees, including one near Suryalanka Road in Bapatla.

Travel disrupted

South Coast Railway halted or regulated train movement on the Vijayawada-Ongole-Gudur section because of high winds. It diverted some trains and is regulating services on the Vijayawada-Gudur stretch until further notice.

Dozens of flights were cancelled across Chennai, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, according to ETV Bharat's live coverage.

What comes next

The India Meteorological Department expects Murasu to move north-northwest and weaken into a cyclonic storm by noon, with winds of 80-90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph. It is forecast to weaken further into a deep depression by midnight, with winds of 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph.

The storm-surge forecast varied between bulletins, from 1.0-1.5 metres to 1.5-2 metres above the astronomical tide. The highest surge was expected over Bapatla, Krishna and Prakasam districts. The department said it should fall below 0.5 metres by noon.

The state has opened a WhatsApp reporting channel, run by its Real Time Governance Society, for outages, fallen trees, collapsed walls and waterlogging. Residents can message 9552300009 and choose "Murasu Cyclone Issues."

Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said teams from his state are on their way to support relief and restoration. Naidu thanked him on X.

The power grid is the open question. Naidu's projection of up to 8,000 damaged poles will be tested against crew counts in the coming days, and the Andhra Pradesh government has not yet said how long restoration is expected to take.

The same coast was hit by Cyclone Arnab days earlier, which Reuters reported killed at least six people and Anadolu Agency reported left five dead. Crews now have a second round of repairs to carry out.