India's east coast braces for Cyclone Murasu; downpour disrupts flights, thousands move to safety

AMARAVATHI: Heavy rains lashed India's eastern coastal states that braced for a second severe cyclone within a week, cancelling several flights, putting disaster response teams on alert and shifting thousands of people to safety on Monday.

Cyclone Murasu, a name meaning war drum, is expected to make landfall between Nellore and Narsapur in south Andhra Pradesh between Monday midnight and Tuesday early morning with wind speeds of 100-110 kmph, gusting up to 120 kmph.

At least 19 domestic flights were cancelled at Vijayawada, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam airports in Andhra Pradesh on Monday. Of these, IndiGo cancelled 10 flights and Air India Express two at Vijayawada Airport.

Visakhapatnam Airport cancelled four flights and Tirupati Airport three.

The approaching severe cyclone poured rain on northern Tamil Nadu, inundating several parts of Chennai, where authorities declared a holiday for schools on Monday as the weather department forecast very heavy rainfall.

Chennai Airport authorities cancelled certain flights and requested passengers to contact the airline concerned for assistance.

Many parts of Chennai, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts have been receiving torrential rains since Sunday night. The weather office warned that the threat of heavy to very heavy rainfall persists for Chennai and Tiruvallur districts as the cyclone moves to the south Andhra Pradesh coast.

Heavy rainfall is expected to lash Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Ranipet, Vellore, and the Nilgiris districts. The forecast notes that rain intensity would gradually subside only after the storm completely crosses the coast.

While gearing up for the severe cyclone, Tamil Nadu extended a helping hand to Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to be in the eye of the approaching storm.

It sent three NDRF teams comprising 90 personnel and 25 teams from the electricity department, consisting of 500 personnel, with essential equipment to Andhra Pradesh.

Karnataka announced that it would deploy 500 skilled power personnel, along with necessary equipment, to Andhra Pradesh to assist in restoring power infrastructure damaged by Cyclone Arnab.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed officials to remain alert as moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in the South coastal region and Rayalaseema district under the cyclone's influence.

He, however, hoped the cyclone's impact would be limited as forecasts indicated that wind speeds and rainfall intensity were expected to be lower compared to Cyclone Arnab.

Odisha expedited moving people from vulnerable areas to safety, with IMD indicating that the southern part of the state was likely to receive heavy rainfall under the impact of the storm. Search operations for 10 people missing in a landslide gathered pace as the weather worsened again.

Some southern Odisha districts have announced closure of schools and colleges till November 3 as several parts of the state started witnessing light rainfall under the influence of the approaching weather system.

Odisha's Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said though the storm is likely to make landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast, it would impact several parts of Odisha, particularly the southern districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput and Malkangiri that have been bruised by Cyclone Arnab a few days ago.

He said all district collectors have been put on alert, while disaster response teams which were deployed during Cyclone Arnab continued to remain positioned in the same places. More than 300 rescue teams from NDRF, ODRAF and Odisha Fire Service have been put on standby, the minister said.

The fresh cyclone has deepened the anxiety of farmers struggling to save their ready-to-be-harvested crops.

Heavy rainfall due to Cyclone Arnab damaged standing crops in Ganjam, Kandhamal and Gajapati districts, officials said, adding that Ganjam bore the brunt most with maximum damage to paddy crops.

A farmer from Ganjam district has died allegedly by suicide over crop loss due to heavy rain.

Niranjan Mohanty of Baiganabadi village in Ganjam district was frantically digging a channel in his field to drain out rainwater as he prayed hard for the safety of his crops from the impending cyclone-induced heavy rain.

"Standing paddy crops on around 10 acres of my land have been submerged. The fresh spell of rain will rot paddy roots," said Sameer Kumar Pradhan, another farmer in the same district.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh P Patil has said that Cyclone Arnab and subsequent floods have impacted 1.18 lakh people in Odisha, affected 75,388 hectares of crop area and damaged 1,672 houses.

However, agriculture department officials estimated the damage to around 90,000 hectares.

With Cyclone Murasu approaching, work was underway on two fronts: relief and rescue of people affected by Arnab and preparation for the impending calamity, Patil has said.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced a special package for the people affected by Cyclone Arnab and said the relief package would be reviewed upon assessing damage after Murasu passes.