Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu made landfall on India’s eastern coast early on Tuesday, bringing heavy rain and powerful winds to Andhra Pradesh and leaving a trail of damage across coastal districts.
The India Meteorological Department said the storm crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narasapur, close to Ongole, between 3.30am and 5.30am local time. Sustained winds were put at 100 to 110 kph, with gusts reaching 120 kph.
No deaths or injuries had been reported by Tuesday morning, according to Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, although trees and electric poles were uprooted. That early assessment stands in contrast to the scale of disruption on the ground: thousands of trees were brought down, hundreds of electric poles damaged, fishing boats wrecked, standing crops harmed and many areas left under water.
Bapatla and Prakasam districts were among the worst affected, with heavy rainfall and gusty winds battering coastal villages. Vehicles were stranded on national highways as drivers struggled through poor visibility, and in Ongole several thatched houses collapsed while a statue was toppled by a falling tree.
For fishing families, the damage is immediate and personal. One fisherman from Kothapatnam in Prakasam district said his village had been evacuated before the storm arrived, with around 400 families moved to safety with help from disaster response teams, but he did not yet know the condition of his boats. Another resident said she had lost her house in an earlier cyclone and, although her family was evacuated in time this time, one of her three fishing boats was completely destroyed — and fishing is her livelihood.
Authorities had begun evacuating people on Monday and planned to move around 30,000 to safety in Andhra Pradesh. The storm is expected to weaken through Tuesday, first to a cyclonic storm by noon and then to a deep depression by midnight, though heavy rain was forecast to continue and fishermen were advised to stay ashore until the morning of 4 November.
Murasu is the second storm to hit the region in a week. It formed over the Bay of Bengal as the remnants of the previous system dissipated inland, and followed Cyclone Arnab, a very severe cyclonic storm that made landfall in Andhra Pradesh the previous Wednesday and killed at least six people.
Note: the featured image is a satellite image of Cyclone Murasu near its peak intensity on 2 November 2026, not a ground photograph of the landfall damage.
Sources: Reuters, “Cyclone Murasu makes landfall on India’s eastern coast“, 3 November 2026, https://thesentimes.com/cyclone-murasu-makes-landfall-on-indias-eastern-coast/ ; The Hindu BusinessLine, “Cyclonic storm Murasu wreaks havoc in coastal Andhra Pradesh“, 3 November 2026, https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/cyclonic-storm-murasu-wreaks-havoc-in-coastal-andhra-pradesh/article71659303.ece
