Weather Alert / Andhra braces for round two as deep depression in Bay of Bengal intensifies into cyclone ‘Murasu’

Amaravati, Nov 1: Barely days after Cyclone Arnab battered Andhra Pradesh, another weather system has intensified over the Bay of Bengal, prompting fresh warnings from the India Meteorological Department.

The IMD has issued yet another cyclone alert for the Andhra Pradesh and adjoining north Tamil Nadu coasts after a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into Cyclonic Storm ‘Murasu’ on Sunday.

According to the IMD, the system intensified into Cyclonic Storm Murasu over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal around 11.30 am IST on Sunday.

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At the time, the storm was centred about 560 km east-southeast of Chennai, 660 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam, 630 km east-southeast of Nellore, 640 km southeast of Machilipatnam and 680 km east-southeast of Ongole.

The weather agency said the cyclonic storm is expected to continue moving west-northwestwards and strengthen further into a severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal by Monday morning.

Thereafter, it is forecast to curve northwestwards and make landfall along the south Andhra Pradesh coast.

The IMD stated that Murasu is “very likely to move northwestwards and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast as a severe cyclonic storm with wind speed of 100 to 110 kmph gusting 120kmph between Nellore and Narsapur during midnight (2330 Hrs IST) of 2nd to early hours (0400 Hrs IST) on Tuesday.”

If the forecast holds, Murasu will become the second cyclonic storm to strike the Andhra Pradesh coast in less than a week. Earlier, Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab crossed the coast near Narsapur in the early hours of October 28, packing winds of 125-135 kmph, gusting up to 150 kmph.

Cyclone Arnab claimed seven lives and left extensive damage in its wake, affecting crops, roads, electricity infrastructure and telecom networks across coastal districts. Thousands of acres of farmland were inundated, while hundreds of electricity poles and trees were uprooted.

Preliminary estimates place the losses caused by Arnab at around Rs 4,600 crore. A central team is currently in Andhra Pradesh to assess the extent of the damage as authorities brace for another potential cyclone impact.

(IANS)