Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. IST on November 3, the India Meteorological Department confirmed. Sustained winds were 100–110 kilometres per hour, with gusts up to 120 kilometres per hour. The landfall process had begun earlier, around 1 a.m. IST. Early reports described uprooted trees and electric poles. Authorities had evacuated thousands of people, while officials had planned to move about 30,000; those figures describe different stages and should not be treated as a final count. The first casualty update was provisional.
When and where did Murasu cross the coast?
The India Meteorological Department's 3 November sea-area bulletin confirms that Murasu crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. IST, between Nellore and Narsapur and close to Ongole. The bulletin gives sustained winds of 100–110 kilometres per hour and gusts reaching 120 kilometres per hour. Reuters and the Associated Press also reported that the storm made landfall near Ongole.
The landfall process and the completed crossing are different stages. The IMD said the process began around 1 a.m. IST, when the forward part of the storm's wall cloud began entering the coast. The storm's centre crossed later, within the 3:30–5:30 a.m. window. Keeping those times separate avoids treating the first contact with land as the moment the entire system had crossed.
Sources: Cyclone Murasu makes landfall on India's eastern coast · Cyclone Murasu landfall begins; heavy rain, 120 kmph winds batter Andhra coast · Sea Area Bulletin: Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu crossed south Andhra Pradesh coast (valid 03 UTC–15 UTC, 3 November 2026) · Heavy rain falls in eastern India after second cyclone in a week
What is known about the first damage reports?
Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, told Reuters that some trees and electric poles had been uprooted. He said no deaths or injuries had been reported at the time of the interview. That statement describes the information available then; it should not be treated as a final assessment of the storm's effects across every affected district.
Authorities began evacuating people from vulnerable areas before the storm arrived. Reuters reported that officials planned to move about 30,000 people to safety, while the Associated Press later reported that thousands had been evacuated. Neither figure establishes a final statewide count of people who reached shelters; the final number should come from later district or state reports.
Sources: Cyclone Murasu makes landfall on India's eastern coast · Heavy rain falls in eastern India after second cyclone in a week
Rainfall and disruption extend beyond the landfall point
The storm's effects are not limited to the point where its centre crossed the coast. The Economic Times' November 3 live tracker reported waterlogging on several roads in Vijayawada after heavy rain. It also reported that three National Disaster Response Force teams, comprising 90 personnel, had been deployed for rescue and relief work, while Tamil Nadu sent 500 electricity personnel in 25 teams to assist with power restoration in Andhra Pradesh.
Those are early operational updates, not a complete damage inventory. The scale of flooding, electricity outages, crop losses and transport disruption can vary sharply by district and may become clearer only after local authorities complete inspections.
Sources: Cyclone Murasu live tracker: Latest weather updates, landfall details and rainfall alerts in Andhra Pradesh · Cyclone Information Management System
Why the first casualty figure must remain provisional
A report that no deaths or injuries have been reported at a particular time is not proof that the final toll will remain at zero. Some locations may be inaccessible during severe weather, communications can fail, and emergency teams may need time to check remote settlements. The same caution applies to damage estimates and evacuation totals.
A reliable update should identify who supplied each figure, when it was checked and whether it is a preliminary count, a confirmed total or an estimate. The first Reuters account attributed the early casualty and damage status to the state disaster-management chief; later figures should be attributed to the authority that issues them.
Sources: Cyclone Murasu makes landfall on India's eastern coast
What happens after the centre crosses land?
The end of the landfall window does not mean the weather threat ends at the same moment. Heavy rain, gusty winds, local flooding and disruptions can continue as a cyclone moves inland and weakens. The IMD's warnings and subsequent bulletins, rather than a single landfall headline, remain the appropriate basis for understanding the changing hazard.
The Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority's cyclone information system provides official warnings and operational updates. Its dashboard should be read with its own timestamps: a live map, a model projection and a district impact report are different kinds of evidence and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Sources: Sea Area Bulletin: Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu, valid 09 UTC–21 UTC on 2 November 2026 · Cyclone Information Management System · Sea Area Bulletin: Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu crossed south Andhra Pradesh coast (valid 03 UTC–15 UTC, 3 November 2026)
What should residents and readers check next?
For public-safety decisions, residents should follow current IMD warnings, district administration orders and official emergency instructions rather than rely on an older forecast or a media summary. People should avoid flooded roads and coastal waters and use the local authorities' directions on shelters, power restoration and access restrictions.
The next factual checkpoints are updated IMD bulletins, district-level casualty and damage assessments, confirmed shelter and evacuation counts, rainfall and flood reports, and restoration notices. Until those records are available, early figures should remain explicitly provisional.
Sources: IMD Visakhapatnam coastal weather bulletin valid 1–2 November · Sea Area Bulletin: Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu, valid 09 UTC–21 UTC on 2 November 2026 · Cyclone Information Management System · Sea Area Bulletin: Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu crossed south Andhra Pradesh coast (valid 03 UTC–15 UTC, 3 November 2026)
