Cyclone Murasu Hits India's East Coast, Second Storm in a Week
Cyclone Murasu has made landfall on India's eastern coast, causing widespread damage in Andhra Pradesh, days after another cyclone.
Highlights
- Cyclone Murasu struck Andhra Pradesh, bringing down trees, toppling power lines, and inundating low-lying areas.
- This marks the second severe cyclone to affect the same region within a single week, following Cyclone Arnab.
- No fatalities or injuries have been reported so far, though significant infrastructure damage occurred.
- Approximately 30,000 individuals were relocated to safer areas ahead of the storm.
- India's Home Minister affirmed the central government's commitment to providing comprehensive assistance to the affected state.
Details
The severe cyclonic storm, Murasu, reached India's eastern coastline near Ongole in the Prakasam district around 1 AM on Tuesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued warnings for heavy to very heavy rainfall across several districts throughout the day. While no casualties have been confirmed, the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority indicated that some trees and electrical poles were uprooted. However, reports from the Press Trust of India (PTI) detailed extensive destruction in Prakasam and Bapatla districts, including thousands of fallen trees, hundreds of damaged power poles, and wrecked fishing vessels. Agricultural crops also suffered, and numerous areas experienced flooding.
In preparation for Murasu's arrival, authorities initiated evacuations on Monday, aiming to move around 30,000 residents to secure locations within Andhra Pradesh. A local fisherman from Kothapatnam described Murasu as the most dangerous cyclone in 14 years, noting that about 400 families from his community had been evacuated prior to the storm's impact. Following the cyclone, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah communicated with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, assuring him of full central government support and confirming that national and state disaster response teams were actively deployed on the ground.
Why it matters
Originating in the Bay of Bengal, a frequent source of powerful storms on India's eastern seaboard, Cyclone Murasu's arrival just days after Cyclone Arnab inflicted considerable damage in Andhra Pradesh and nearby Odisha, places immense additional strain on the region's communities and infrastructure. The scale of the destruction and the extensive evacuation efforts underscore the critical importance of robust disaster preparedness and swift emergency response mechanisms in mitigating the impact of such natural events.