‘Nargis,’ ‘Abe’ and more: The naming of a cyclone

Images: Houses destroyed by Cyclone Nargis are seen in a village in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta, Myanmar. More than 20,000 are known dead and tens of thousands more are listed as missing, and the UN estimates more than 1 million people are homeless in Myanmar, also is known as Burma.

As Myanmar copes with the devastation wrought by Cyclone Nargis, meteorologists from South and Southeast Asia are ready with the name of the next cyclone to hit the region — one called Abe. And astrological predictions are not at work here; only a systematic way of listing names for disasters yet to strike.

“It`s better to give identity to the cyclones. Countries around the north Indian Ocean have prepared a list of names which will be given to the cyclones,” said R C Bhatia, Additional Director General of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). “A name helps authorities, the country and, above all, people around the world to remember the disaster. It is certainly helping us in becoming systematic and keeping a record of such disasters,” Bhatia said.

Cyclone Nargis: The sad aftermath | Myanmar cyclone a `major, major disaster`: UN

Text: IANS
Images: AP