Cyclone Murasu: Schools Shut in Chennai, Nellore as Landfall Nears

Schools and colleges in Chennai, Tiruvallur, parts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha’s Malkangiri district are closed today as Cyclone Murasu closes in on the south Andhra Pradesh coast. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its 5 am bulletin on 2 November that the storm will likely cross the coast between Nellore and Narsapur, near Ongole, between 11:30 pm on 2 November and 4 am on 3 November. At the time of the bulletin it lay about 260 km east-northeast of Chennai.

Holidays Declared in Three States

The Chennai and Tiruvallur district administrations declared a holiday for schools and colleges on 2 November, and both districts are under an IMD orange alert. In Andhra Pradesh, institutions are closed in NTR, Palnadu, Nellore and Gudur districts, and some buildings may serve as temporary cyclone shelters, with staff told to stay available for emergency duty. Malkangiri in Odisha has shut schools and colleges from 2 to 4 November.

Winds of 100-110 kmph at Landfall

IMD expects wind speeds of 100 to 110 kmph, gusting to 120 kmph, near landfall. The system should weaken to a cyclonic storm with winds of 80 to 90 kmph by the morning of 3 November, become a deep depression late that day, and fade to a depression by the morning of 4 November.

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Coastal Andhra Pradesh may see heavy to very heavy rain, with extremely heavy falls at some places on 2 and 3 November. Telangana has orange alerts for Khammam, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Mahabubnagar, Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy, and yellow alerts for Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Jangaon, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri and Medchal-Malkajgiri. Telangana has not announced school closures. Heavy rain is also forecast for south Odisha and south Chhattisgarh, rising on 3 and 4 November.

Fishermen Told to Stay Ashore Until 4 November

IMD has asked fishermen not to venture into the affected parts of the Bay of Bengal or along the Andhra Pradesh, north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts during the warning period. Residents of low-lying coastal areas have been asked to follow local administration instructions and stay indoors in severe weather. The reports reviewed by IPB News did not mention evacuations, train or flight cancellations, or NDRF deployment.

The next IMD bulletins will confirm the landfall point and time. IPB News has earlier covered the storm’s intensification in Cyclone Murasu Now Severe and the rain outlook for Odisha on 3 and 4 November. All weather updates are at ipbnews.in/category/weather-updates.

Source: IMD cyclone bulletin, 2 November, 5 am. Also based on reporting by Business Standard.

Image: PTI.