Odisha’s southern districts witnessed light rainfall as severe cyclonic storm Murasu made landfall on the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh coast early on Tuesday, even as the state government asked all collectors in the region to remain prepared to handle any adverse weather conditions, a minister said.
Odisha’s Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari told PTI that district collectors of Koraput, Malkangiri, Kandhamal, Kalahandi and several others have reported light rainfall.
“We hope the situation will not be adverse,” he said.
The minister said the state continues to remain on high alert as landslides have emerged as a major challenge for Odisha.
“We are on high alert, and the people of the hilly terrain will remain in shelters for some time, keeping in view of the weather conditions,” the minister said.
The state government has shifted more than 1.60 lakh people to safety and deployed disaster response teams in five southern districts in view of an IMD forecast of heavy rain and gusty winds.
After cyclone Arnab, the severe cyclonic storm Murasu has left a trail of destruction in coastal Andhra Pradesh, uprooting thousands of trees, damaging hundreds of electric poles, and wrecking fishing boats, with people recounting their ordeal as the cyclone crossed the coast early on Tuesday.
(PTI)
