Arya News - Cyclone Murasu expected to hit coast near Ongole late on Monday with wind speeds of 100-110km/h, Meteorological Department says.
Authorities in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh have begun evacuating residents from low-lying coastal areas as Cyclone Murasu bears down on a region still recovering from a deadly cyclone last week.
About 2,000 people had been evacuated by Monday, Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, told the Reuters news agency. “We are planning to evacuate some 30,000 people,” he said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the cyclone was likely to cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur near the town of Ongole from 11:30pm (18:00 GMT) on Monday to 4am on Tuesday (22:30 GMT on Monday).
“It is very likely to … cross south Andhra Pradesh coast as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds of around 100 to 110 kilometres per hour [60 to 70 miles per hour],” IMD said, projecting gusts of 120km/h (75mph).
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to prepare for the cyclone. He said estimates suggested that 6,000 to 8,000 electrical poles could be damaged, posing a “severe threat to power supply”.
Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan wrote on X that the cyclone was set to have a severe impact on Nellore, Prakasam, Bapatla and Krishna districts.
Six National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and seven State Disaster Response Force teams have been deployed in advance, Jain said, according to the IANS news agency. Three of the NDRF teams were sent from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the ANI news agency reported.
In Nellore district, Collector Himanshu Shukla urged fishermen not to go to sea and ordered officials in coastal areas to remain at their posts.
Schools have been closed in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha with rain expected to continue over parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh until Wednesday even as the storm weakens, according to ETV Bharat.
Murasu is expected to be less intense than Cyclone Arnab, which struck the same coastline on Wednesday, killing six people and destroying dozens of homes and crops.