In brief
Indian officials confirmed the grounding of 11 flights at Chennai and 10 at Vijayawada on Monday as Cyclone Murasu intensified. A Facebook post by Mathrubhumi English reported over 30 flights canceled at Gannavaram Airport, a figure not yet corroborated by other outlets. Evacuation of about 2,000 people and widespread school closures followed the cyclone’s dangerous forecast.
Over 20 flights were cancelled in the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on Monday in the wake of Cyclone Murasu, officials said. According to Xinhua, 11 flights were grounded at Chennai airport and 10 at Vijayawada International Airport, forcing passengers to seek updated flight status before traveling.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) warnings flagged the depression over the Bay of Bengal as a severe cyclonic storm. Murasu was centred roughly 120 km east‑southeast of Nellore, Andhra Pradesh and 160 km northeast of Chennai, with gusts projected at 120 km/h between Nellore and Narsapur. The IMD issued orange alerts for six districts and yellow alerts for five districts in Telangana, and advised fishermen to avoid the Southeast and Southwest Bay of Bengal until Wednesday.
Prakhar Jain, a senior official of the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority, told local media that about 2,000 people had been evacuated and that the process was ongoing. The Tamil Nadu government declared a holiday for schools and colleges on Monday in response to the forecast of heavy rain.
Unconfirmed reports from a Mathrubhumi English Facebook post claim that more than 30 flights were cancelled at Gannavaram Airport and that 32 train services in Odisha were suspended, though these figures have not yet been corroborated by other news outlets.
Additional context from Hindustan Times and TrueVision News notes that Cyclone Murasu is expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast near Bapatla on the morning of November 3 with winds up to 110 km/h, while heavy rain alerts have prompted evacuations, school closures and fishing bans along the eastern coast.