The Andhra Pradesh government issued its first official damage assessment for Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu on Tuesday, putting crop damage at 30,661 hectares across 15 districts, according to the government's update reported by Telugu360 and The Hindu BusinessLine. The cyclone affected 132 mandals, and Krishna, Bapatla and Nandyal districts reported the highest crop damage, with paddy, cotton and maize among the crops that suffered significant losses. Officials said the figures are preliminary and may change following detailed field verification.

Source: Telugu360

A total of 10,805 people were evacuated to 171 relief camps set up across the cyclone-affected districts, and 14,810 food packets were distributed to affected residents, The Hindu BusinessLine reported, citing the government release. Eleven National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and 13 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams were deployed for relief operations, 613 generators were kept ready for emergency power, and the Fire Department deployed 185 teams to clear uprooted trees and standing water.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Before the cyclone struck, the state administration relocated 3,066 pregnant women and 1,008 new mothers to safer hospitals, deployed 725 medical teams across 13 districts and kept 362 ambulances ready, Telugu360 reported from the government update. Cyclone warning messages were issued continuously to 3.77 crore mobile phones, and residents could seek help through the Mana Mitra WhatsApp governance service run by the Real Time Governance Society, the update said.

Storm position and the rain still to come

At 11:30 am on Tuesday, Murasu lay centred near Bapatla at latitude 15.9 degrees north and longitude 80.1 degrees east — about 40 km west of Bapatla and 50 km north of Ongole — moving north-northwestwards at 6 kmph, with maximum sustained winds of 85-95 kmph gusting to 105 kmph, Hyderabad Mail reported from the cyclone bulletin. Winds of 107 kmph were recorded at Dornala in Markapuram district. The system was expected to weaken into a cyclonic storm by Tuesday afternoon and further into a deep depression by midnight, under the surveillance of Doppler weather radars at Machilipatnam and Visakhapatnam.

Source: Hyderabad Mail

Heavy rain is not over. The government's assessment projected district-average rainfall of 243.8 mm for Guntur, 132.31 mm for Bapatla and 105.04 mm for Krishna on November 3, with widespread heavy to very heavy rainfall and isolated extremely heavy spells forecast for Bapatla, Guntur, Krishna, Palnadu, NTR, Eluru and West Godavari districts. The assessment also placed 814 minor irrigation tanks under warning status and said inflows into the Pulichintala project and the Prakasam Barrage are expected to increase over the next two days, requiring continued monitoring of reservoir levels and downstream areas, Telugu360 reported.

What happens next

District administrations are continuing field-level crop assessments while relief teams focus on restoring electricity and road connectivity and on medical assistance in the affected districts. With 814 minor irrigation tanks on warning status and river inflows expected to rise, officials said reservoir levels and low-lying downstream areas will be watched closely over the next two days. Sources: Andhra Pradesh government assessment via Telugu360; The Hindu BusinessLine; Hyderabad Mail.