In brief
Cyclone Murasu hit the coast of Andhra Pradesh early Tuesday, toppling trees and power poles and flooding low‑lying lands. Authorities have evacuated roughly 30,000 people and are providing disaster relief. The storm arrived shortly after Cyclone Arnab, making it the second cyclone to hit the region in a week.
In the early hours of Tuesday, Nov. 2 2026, a severe cyclonic storm known as Murasu made landfall along the eastern coast of India, striking the state of Andhra Pradesh near the town of Ongole in Prakasam district. Local reports say the cyclone arrived between 3:30 am and 5:30 am local time, bringing winds between 100 and 110 kilometres per hour.
The landfall uprooted countless trees and toppled hundreds of electricity poles, leaving stretches of roadway and neighbourhoods without power. Low‑lying areas in multiple districts, including Prakasam and Bapatla, were flooded as water rose to breaking the floodgates of irrigation systems and roadside dykes.
Shifts in tide and heavy rain battering the coast were compounded by the storm’s force. “No deaths or injuries have been reported so far,” said Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, to Reuters. He added that thousands of trees had fallen and many power poles had been damaged.
“This is the most dangerous cyclone we have witnessed in the last 14 years,” said Krishnamma, a fisherman from Kothapatnam in Prakasam district, to the Press Trust of India. He recalled that about 400 families from his village had been moved out before the storm hit.
Fishing boats wrecked along the coast compounded economic loss, while standing crops were submerged and many agricultural fields were left water‑logged. The storm’s flooding has turned several small rivers and ponds into large bodies of water, disrupting local transport routes.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah announced on X that he had spoken with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu about the cyclone’s impact. He wrote that the Central Government would provide all kinds of assistance and that national and state disaster response teams were already on the ground.
Authorities began evacuating residents on Monday, moving about 30,000 people to safety in a series of shelters across the state, according to Jain. Rescue teams have been working to restore power to critical facilities and to direct de‑watering efforts to the most severely impacted farms.
Murasu’s arrival follows in close succession the passage of Cyclone Arnab, which had caused heavy damage in both Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Odisha earlier in the week. The India Meteorological Department forecasted that Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to its south would be the hardest hit by Murasu, and it warned of heavy to very heavy rains across Andhra Pradesh.
Residents are advised to stay indoors until the storm’s full impact subsides and to listen to local authorities for updates on water levels and power restoration. Emergency services remain on alert as weather models predict continued rainfall in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Odisha for the next 12 hours, per the latest reports from the weather agencies.
