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Tropical typhoons get
local language names

It is hoped this will attract
more attention to the storm
from people in the region

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Richard Hagemeyer recalls sitting at a table in August 1998, with representatives of 14 members of the World Meteorological Organization.

All weather people, they were trying to come up with a list of names in local languages for tropical storms and typhoons in the Western North Pacific and South China Sea, said Hagemeyer, Pacific Region director of the National Weather Service.

He represented the United States on the typhoon committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the meteorological organization.

"This is the first time there has been an international name list in that part of the world," he said.

In the past, typhoons in that area either were identified by year and number or by English names listed by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, previously in Guam and now in Pearl Harbor.

English names don't have any relevance in that area, but since the international media wanted to use names, it was decided to generate a list endemic to the area, Hagemeyer said.

"The idea was if people hear typhoons and tropical storms in their language, they will pay more attention to the warning and advice that goes with it."

The first storm in that area this year will be called "Damrey," meaning elephant in Cambodian. "I think they would relate to that more than 'Becky' or 'John,' " Hagemeyer said.

The group started out with about 600 names and ended up with 130. Hagemeyer contributed 10 names from the United States of Palauan, Marshallese and Chamorro origin.

"It was a very interesting process," he said, describing the difficulty of agreeing on names that wouldn't be offensive when pronounced or unacceptable for other reasons.

"We agreed that any objection would throw out a name."

Use of the list was delayed until now, so a brochure could be published and information disseminated by other means, Hagemeyer said.

The names, meanings and phonetic pronunciation are available on the Internet at http://www.weather.gov.hk/ informtc/sound/tcname2000e.htm

People can hear the names pronounced in the local language by downloading the online software. More information on tropical cyclones may be found at http:// hurricanes.noaa.gov/

Tropical storms and typhoons coming through this region will still have Hawaiian names.