Cyclone Murasu slams into India's eastern coast, second storm in a week

Cyclone Murasu has struck India's eastern coast, tearing up trees, knocking over electricity poles and inundating low-lying parts of Andhra Pradesh. It is the second cyclone to hit the region within a week, following Cyclone Arnab.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the severe cyclonic storm came ashore near Ongole in Prakasam district at about 1am on Tuesday, which was 19:30 GMT on Monday. The agency warned that heavy to very heavy rainfall would continue across several districts through the day.

Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, told the Reuters news agency that no deaths or injuries had been reported so far. He confirmed that some trees and electricity poles had been uprooted by the storm.

The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported extensive damage in the districts of Prakasam and Bapatla. Thousands of trees were felled, hundreds of power poles damaged and fishing boats wrecked, according to the agency. Standing crops were also hit, and many areas were left underwater.

Jain said authorities began evacuating residents on Monday and intended to move about 30,000 people to safety across Andhra Pradesh.

Krishnamma, a fisherman from Kothapatnam in Prakasam district, told PTI: "This is the most dangerous cyclone we have witnessed in the last 14 years." He said roughly 400 families from his village had been relocated before the storm arrived.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah wrote on X that he had spoken to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu about the cyclone's impact. "I assured him that the Central Government will provide all kinds of assistance and support," Shah said, noting that national and state disaster response teams were already deployed on the ground.

Murasu formed over the Bay of Bengal, a body of water that regularly generates deadly storms along India's east coast. Its arrival comes only days after Cyclone Arnab caused heavy damage in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Odisha.

The IMD forecast that Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the state to its south, would bear the brunt of the storm. Murasu is also bringing heavy rain to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Odisha.