Hurricanes Fiona and Ian in North and Central America last year killed and destroyed, prompting the UN to withdraw their names from a rotating list of storm titles. “Farrah” and “Idris” will replace “Fiona” and “Ian,” respectively, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Tropical cyclones, commonly known as hurricanes, are named to make warning signals simpler to understand throughout the Atlantic hurricane season, which spans from June 1 to November 30.
Alternating masculine and female names are given to them. Every six years, the names are reused, but destructive hurricanes are discarded. The WMO says 96 names had been retired from the hurricane list since 1953. Fiona was a massive, powerful, and catastrophic category 4 Atlantic hurricane that devastated the Antilles, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic before hitting Canada as a strong post-tropical storm in mid-September last year. According to the UN organization, it was the costliest extreme weather occurrence in Atlantic Canada. It killed 29 individuals and inflicted over $3bn in damages there and around the Caribbean.
Ian came days later, slamming through Cuba before striking the US as a category 4 hurricane. It was one of the most powerful hurricanes in that country. On September 28, when it hit Florida, it killed more than 150 people. Ian was Florida’s costliest hurricane and the third most expensive in the US. Ian destroyed entire neighborhoods and cut down electricity for millions. Storm surges and torrential rains flooded even inland neighborhoods. The WMO said that dozens of designated tropical cyclones occur worldwide each year, killing 43 people and causing $78m in losses daily during the previous 50 years.
Scientists claim climate change is exacerbating the consequences of major weather events. The UN agency stated the death toll has dropped drastically due to WMO’s Tropical Cyclone Program’s forecasting, warning, and catastrophe risk-reduction activities. Eight of 14 named tropical cyclones with winds of 63km per hour (39 miles) or more in the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season became hurricanes. According to the end-of-season assessment from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only Fiona and Ian strengthened to major hurricanes with winds over 178km per hour.
