Cyclone Murasu Hits India's Andhra Pradesh Coast, a Week After Cyclone Arnab

Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole in Prakasam district, between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday, November 3, the India Meteorological Department said, according to Business Standard. Sustained winds were 100 to 110 kilometers an hour (about 60 to 70 mph), gusting to 120, and the department had warned of a storm surge of 1 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) above high tide in low-lying coastal areas. The storm was weakening over land.

It is India's second cyclone in about a week, after Cyclone Arnab, Al Jazeera reports. More than 180,000 people were evacuated in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha before landfall, including about 160,000 in five Odisha districts where flash floods from Arnab had already caused widespread damage, according to Indian media reports. India's National Disaster Response Force sent additional teams to Andhra Pradesh, and schools were closed in several districts. The UN- and EU-backed Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System issued a red alert, its highest level, for the storm's wind exposure.

Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh were under rain alerts. India proposed the name Murasu, a Tamil word for a traditional war drum; it is the first Tamil name given to a north Indian Ocean cyclone. Official casualty and damage figures had not been released.