India evacuates thousands ahead of second cyclone in a week

Authorities began evacuating people along India’s eastern coast on Monday, a day before a severe cyclonic storm is expected to make landfall in a region recovering from a deadly cyclone last week.

Cyclone Murasu is expected to be less intense than last week’s cyclone Arnab, where six people were killed and dozens of houses and crops were destroyed.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast Murasu to make landfall in the early hours of Tuesday.

“Around 2,000 people have been evacuated, and the process is continuing. We are planning to evacuate some 30,000 people,” Prakhar Jain, managing director of the Andhra Pradesh state disaster management authority, told Reuters on Monday.

The cyclone formed over the Bay of Bengal, a major region for tropical cyclones that has spawned deadly storms on India’s east coast.

IMD expects Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, states along India’s south eastern coast, to feel the brunt of it.