Authorities in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh have initiated the evacuation of residents from low-lying coastal areas as Cyclone Murasu bears down on a region that remains vulnerable following a deadly storm last week.

Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, stated that approximately 2,000 individuals had been relocated by Monday, with plans underway to evacuate roughly 30,000 people in total to mitigate potential casualties.

The India Meteorological Department projected that the cyclone would strike the coast with sustained wind speeds of 100 to 110 kilometers per hour, alongside gusts reaching up to 120 km/h. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu warned that thousands of utility poles could be severely damaged, posing a major risk to regional power grids.

Multiple National and State Disaster Response Force teams have been deployed to the affected zones ahead of the landfall. Educational institutions have been shut down across several districts, and local authorities have issued strict warnings barring fishermen from venturing into the sea.

Source: www.aljazeera.com