Days after Cyclone Arnab, Andhra Pradesh braces for Cyclonic Storm Murasu landfall

Deep depression intensifies into cyclonic storm 'Murasu' over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal.

Barely a week after it was battered by Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab, the Andhra Pradesh coast is bracing for Cyclonic Storm Murasu, with five districts put on red alert.

By Sunday (November 1, 2026) afternoon, the storm had moved to about 480 km east-southeast of Chennai, 550 km east-southeast of Nellore, 560 km southeast of Machilipatnam, 600 km southeast of Ongole and 610 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam. It is expected to bring heavy to very heavy rain in parts of Tamil Nadu’s Tiruvallur, Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, and Nilgiris districts.

The storm is expected to move west-northwestward and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm around Monday (November 2) morning. Between Monday night and the early hours of Tuesday, it is likely to cross into the southern Andhra Pradesh coast with wind speeds of 100-120 kmph between Nellore and Narsapur.

Odisha, which experienced multiple landslides during Cyclone Arnab, is also bracing for the impact of Murasu, with authorities saying southern coastal districts of the State were likely to receive heavy rainfall.

While it was the northern part of Andhra Pradesh that bore the brunt last week, this time, the central and southern coastal parts of the State are likely to be affected, according to the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA). Officials identified 20 mandals that could experience extremely heavy rainfall, including nine mandals in Eluru district, five each in Krishna and NTR districts, and one in Bapatla district. Damage is expected to a large number of electricity poles across 12 districts.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has put five districts in the State — SPSR Nellore, Prakasam, Guntur, Bapatla, and Krishna — on red alert for November 2. The five districts are expected to receive isolated extremely heavy rain on Monday. An orange alert has been issued for seven other districts.

A warning has been issued to coastal districts between West Godavari and SPSR Nellore, as 100-110 kmph winds, gusting to 120 kmph, may prevail from Monday evening. When Cyclone Arnab crossed the coast near Narsapur in West Godavari district on October 28, winds gusted up to 150 kmph.

Cyclonic Storm Murasu comes at a time when Andhra Pradesh is just beginning to recover from the impact of Cyclone Arnab, a storm that killed five people and submerged crops in more than 3.5 lakh hectares of land. It also damaged about 2,425 km of roads and brought down some 15,000 electric poles. The State government puts its losses at ₹4,600 crore, and officials now have little time to prepare for the next storm.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has cancelled his visit to Delhi on Monday (November 2) in view of the cyclone, the Chief Minister’s Office said in a post on X. As many as 1,688 medical teams and 116 relief camps have been prepared in districts likely to be affected by the latest cyclone. The Health Department has also made available 13,165 emergency beds, essential medicines, and 43,672 anti-snake venom injections.

The Chief Minister held a review meeting and directed officials to step up preparedness to tackle the possible impact of the storm. He instructed authorities to mobilise adequate manpower and equipment in advance to ensure prompt restoration of essential services.

He also directed officials to issue updates on the cyclone situation every four hours and asked telecom service providers to take precautionary measures to maintain uninterrupted mobile connectivity during the storm.

In Tamil Nadu, for the 24-hour period from 8.30 a.m. on Monday, heavy to very heavy rain is likely at isolated places over Chennai and Tiruvallur districts. The rain could be accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, with gusty wind speeds reaching 40-50 kmph at some places.

Heavy rain is also likely at isolated places, with thunderstorms and lightning, over Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Vellore and Nilgiris districts. Light to moderate rain has been forecast, with thunderstorms and lightning at some places, over the rest of northern Tamil Nadu and the Western Ghat districts, as well as Puducherry and the Karaikal area.

For Tuesday (November 3), heavy rain has been forecast at isolated places in Nilgiris district with thunderstorms and lightning. Moderate rain is likely to occur over isolated places in north Tamil Nadu and Western Ghat districts, Puducherry and the Karaikal area. Light to moderate rain is likely to occur at a few places over the rest of the State.

In Odisha, the State government has identified 150 landslide-prone locations in Gajapati district alone ahead of Cyclonic Storm Murasu. During Cyclone Arnab, five people were killed in separate landslides and 10 others remained missing in the State.

Addressing a press conference, Special Relief Commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil warned that the situation could worsen as the ground was already saturated and heavy rain was forecast in southern Odisha under the influence of Murasu. “We have directed district collectors to evacuate people from vulnerable areas,” he said.

(With inputs from Deepa Ramakrishnan in Chennai and Satyasundar Barik in Bhubaneswar)

India / Coastal Andhra / Andhra Pradesh / Tamil Nadu / Odisha / cyclones / Environmental disasters / disaster (general) / disaster management