Severe Cyclone Murasu Makes Landfall Near Ongole, India, Grounding Flights and Halting Trains

Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu made landfall close to Ongole, in Andhra Pradesh's Prakasam district, at 1 a.m. IST on Nov. 3, 2026. India's weather agency, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said the storm crossed the coast between Nellore and Narsapur, in bulletins carried by The Hindu and Hindustan Times. Sustained winds reached 100–110 kmph, gusting to 120 kmph, the agency said.

Cyclone Arnab made landfall on this same stretch of Andhra Pradesh coast on Oct. 27, 2026, less than a week before Murasu's landfall.

IMD warned of a storm surge that may inundate low-lying areas of South Coastal Andhra Pradesh, with the highest surge expected over Bapatla and the Krishna and Prakasam districts. It also forecast heavy rain across the region over the next 12 hours. Ongole had recorded 18 mm of rain as of 1 a.m., while Kothapatnam, also in Prakasam district, had recorded 74.7 mm.

Hindustan Times, citing the Press Trust of India (PTI), reported that about 2,000 people had been evacuated from vulnerable coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, with the state administration planning to move about 30,000 more to safety. More than 1.6 lakh (about 160,000) people had been evacuated from five vulnerable districts of neighboring Odisha by 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, with Ganjam district accounting for about 1.5 lakh (150,000) of them. At least 30 domestic flights were cancelled on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, at the Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Chennai airports because of the weather, Hindustan Times reported. Railway authorities also cancelled nine trains as a precaution.