The Indian authorities are evacuating thousands of people from the eastern coast on Monday as the second cyclone in less than a week bears down, threatening renewed flooding in a region still recovering from the previous deadly storm.
Cyclone Murasu intensified into a “severe cyclonic storm” over the Bay of Bengal and is expected to make landfall overnight between Nellore and Narsapur in Andhra Pradesh state on November 2-3.
The state authorities started evacuating up to 30,000 people, Disaster Management Authority managing director Prakhar Jain told Reuters.
The storm is expected to bring sustained winds of 100-110 kph, gusting up to 120 kph, the India Meteorological Department said. It also warned of a storm surge of up to 1.5 meters above normal tide levels, raising the risk of coastal flooding.
In the Konaseema district, fresh rain flooded homes and disrupted recovery efforts after Cyclone Arnab, which struck the region on October 28.
Arnab hit the coast as a “very severe” cyclone, with winds gusting up to 150 kph. It killed six people, damaged homes and farmland, and disrupted electricity supplies. More than 180,000 people were evacuated before it made landfall.
Murasu is expected to be less powerful than Arnab, arrives as damaged electricity infrastructure is still being repaired and coastal communities are still recovering from the flooding.
Five districts, including Krishna, Guntur, Bapatla, Prakasam, and Nellore, were placed under a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall. Neighboring Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Telangana states also faced heavy rain warnings.
The approaching cyclone has already disrupted transportation and daily life. Heavy rainfall waterlogged parts of Chennai city, where schools and colleges were closed on Monday. Nearly a dozen flights were canceled.