AMARAVATI (The Thursday Times) — India began evacuating people along its southeastern coast on Monday as Cyclone Murasu, now a severe cyclonic storm, headed for Andhra Pradesh, a region still recovering from a deadly cyclone last week.
The India Meteorological Department said the storm was expected to cross the south Andhra coast around midnight with winds of 100 to 110 kilometres an hour, with landfall continuing until about 4am on Tuesday. It named Nellore, Narsapur and Ongole among the areas likely to be worst hit.
About 2,000 people had been moved and the authorities planned to evacuate some 30,000, Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, said. Three National Disaster Response Force teams were sent from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Heavy rain had already reached northern Tamil Nadu. Madhavaram in Chennai recorded 11 centimetres in 24 hours, the city was under an orange alert, and schools were closed. Some flights were cancelled at Chennai airport. City officials said there was no major flooding, only minor waterlogging in some areas.
Murasu is expected to be weaker than Cyclone Arnab, which killed at least six people and destroyed houses and crops when it struck the same coast last week.
