Cyclone called Titli (Butterfly)! Who named it?

Bhubaneswar, Oct 11: Cyclones are one of Mother Nature's most devastating furies and currently, the two coastal states of Odisha and Andhra are facing the music of one such cyclone - Cyclone Titli.

Now, many have started questioning the name Titli (meaning butterfly) for a devastating force like cyclone. It has seen evacuation of lakhs of people at the Odisha coastline while eight people have been reportedly killed in Andhra. Couldn't there be a more befitting name?

In South East Asia, tropical cyclones are given names by different countries that are located in the region (including South). Titli was named by Pakistan and the next will called Gaja - named by Thailand.

The process of naming cyclones is done under the supervision of the World Meteorological Organisation. For the area in and around Indian Ocean, the talks over naming cyclones started in 2000 and in 2004, a formula was agreed upon. Eight nations in South and South-East Asia, namely, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand have come up with their respective sets of names that are assigned to the cyclone storm in a sequence. The naming helps the weather forecaster and general people for an easy communication.

The names of some future cyclones are: Gaja (Thailand), Phethai (Sri Lanka), Fani (Bangladesh), Vayu (India), Hikaa (Maldives), Kyarr (Myanmar), Maha (Oman), Bulbul (Pakistan), Pawan (Thailand) and Amphan (Sri Lanka).

Meanwhile, the MeT office on Wednesday, October 10, upgraded Cyclone Titli to "very severe cyclonic storm" and warned that the wind might blow at 145 km per hour. The cyclone made a landfall in Odisha's beach town of Gopalpur between 4:30 and 5:30 on Thursday (Oct 11) morning.