Cyclone Murasu Crosses South Andhra Coast Near Ongole With Gusts to 120 kmph

Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole, between 3:30 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. IST on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. The India Meteorological Department recorded sustained winds of 100 to 110 kmph at the landfall point, with gusts reaching 120 kmph.

The landfall process itself began around 1 a.m. when the inner spiral band in the northern sector touched the coast and the wall cloud region started moving inland. By 3 a.m. the system was centred roughly 40 km southeast of Ongole, 60 km northeast of Kavali and 70 km south of Bapatla. It continued moving north-northwestwards at about 8 to 9 kmph through the early morning hours.

IMD had tracked the system from the west-central Bay of Bengal. At 2330 hours IST on November 2 it lay near 15.1°N, 80.4°E, about 50 km east-northeast of Kavali and 50 km southeast of Ongole. Doppler radars at Chennai and Machilipatnam monitored the approach continuously. The forecast storm surge of 1.0 to 1.5 metres above the astronomical tide was expected to inundate low-lying areas of south coastal Andhra Pradesh, with the highest peak over Bapatla, Krishna and Prakasam districts.

This is the second cyclone to strike Andhra Pradesh within a week. Cyclone Arnab, classified as a very severe cyclonic storm, made landfall on October 28 and left at least six people dead. Murasu formed over the Bay of Bengal and strengthened into a severe cyclonic storm before reaching the coast. Officials evacuated thousands of people from vulnerable coastal areas on Monday and planned to move roughly 30,000 more. No deaths or injuries had been reported in the first hours after landfall, though trees and electric poles were uprooted in several places.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is forecast for West Godavari, Eluru, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, Palnadu, Markapuram, Prakasam and Nellore districts on November 3. Isolated extremely heavy falls remain possible. Tamil Nadu has sent 500 electricity department personnel in 25 teams to help restore power. Three NDRF teams of 90 personnel are already deployed. Schools and colleges in several districts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were closed as a precaution.

At least 19 domestic flights were cancelled at Vijayawada, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam airports on Monday as the system neared the coast. Port signals of Great Danger were hoisted at Nizampatnam, Vadarevu, Machilipatnam and Krishnapatnam. Fishermen had already moved boats to higher ground along the coast.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu received briefings that Palnadu could see the highest rainfall of around 30 cm, followed by Prakasam with 24 cm. He directed officials to protect nearly 6,800 tanks across six districts. The state had released ₹37 crore in relief funds to 17 districts ahead of landfall.

The system is expected to weaken as it moves inland over the next 24 hours, but residual heavy rain and strong winds will continue across coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Telangana and Odisha. Recovery of power and clearing of roads will take priority once the immediate weather threat eases. The repeated cyclones within days have stretched local disaster response teams and raised questions about infrastructure resilience along the Andhra coast after consecutive storm seasons.