In brief
Cyclone Murasu made landfall early Tuesday, downing trees and disrupting flight schedules in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu while leaving no casualties. The second cyclone within a week follows Arnab, which killed more than a dozen people, showing ongoing severe weather along India's eastern seaboard. Disruptions included power stability and outdoor cancellations, with authorities urging residents to stay indoors.
Cyclone Murasu, bearing wind speeds of up to 120 km/h, made landfall on India’s southern coast in the early hours of Tuesday, according to a local disaster‑management official. The storm followed a week of severe weather that had already seen a second system, Arn — blamed for more than a dozen fatalities in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha – and that had forced the curtailment of travel and the evacuation of beach‑side communities.
Heavy rains fell in sheets across several districts of Andhra Pradesh, drenching low‑lying dunes and flood‑plains. The gale’s gusts uprooted trees along the shoreline and knocked down a number of electric poles, but local media reports confirmed that power supply remained normal in the towns that had been struck by the storm.
In the state’s capital the civil‑aviation authority reported that over 20 flights, including two international services, were either cancelled or diverted as a result of the sudden change in weather. The same pattern was observed on airports in Tamil Nadu. Flight crews received warnings from meteorologists and acted quickly, sparing passengers from being stranded mid‑journey.
The earlier cyclone Arnab has been the subject of different casualty figures. Xinhua documents that Arnab killed more than 10 people in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, whereas a Business Recorder article reports six deaths for the same storm. No casualties have been officially announced for the current Murasu event.
Emergency services in Andhra Pradesh dispatched teams as soon as the skies lifted to assess damage and ensure that homes stayed safe. The disaster‑management department highlighted the resilience of the local electrical grid, noting that the majority of the infrastructure stayed functional amid the storm’s passage.
Post‑storm surveys by civil‑engineering groups identified that the absence of injuries is largely attributable to the early‑morning advisories issued along the coast and the sturdiness of residential structures. The teams surveyed a number of villages that had been hit most heavily, noting that most people had taken shelter before the gale’s peak intensity.
Uprooted trees gathered in clusters near villages that host major temples and community centres. Local authorities have pledged to clear the timber and support re‑planting efforts in the following weeks, as many of these sites are seasonal draws for pilgrims and tourists.
The economic impact of the cyclone was felt mainly in the hospitality and transport sectors of the southern coast. Hotel chains in Visakhapatnam opened communications channels with staff and guests to avoid service disruptions while the weather warmed. Residents have been directed to remain vigilant as the Bay of Bengal may bring further storms down the eastern seaboard.
