The Egyptian Meteorological Authority has forecast a moderate sandstorm on Tuesday to be added to the numerous storms that hit Egypt and other Arab countries, dubbed women’s names like Hoda, Zeina, Boshra and Jana.
In 1950, the US National Hurricane Center developed a system for naming storms based on the letters of the alphabet. Every year, the first storm of the season would be "Able", the second would be "Baker" and the third "Charlie". Meterologist, however, objected to the system as the same names were used every year.
In 1953, the system was revamped by the US National Weather Bureau to begin naming storms after women, following the naval tradition of naming ship vessels. Some say the move also began during World War II, as men who left for war in the Pacific, sought to pay tribute to their wives and girlfriends waiting at home. As the United States at the time was the leading the world in storm tracking, other countries quickly adopted the same methods.
Names of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean
Women's rights organizations began to complain, arguing that naming storms after women was insulting to women. “Women are not disasters, destroying life and communities and leaving a lasting and devastating effect,” argued Rocxy Bolton, a prominent women's rights activist from Miami, in the 1970s.
By 1979, US federal authorities complied and ordered that hurricanes be given male names as well.
The Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida came up with 21 names for hurricanes in the North Atlantic region in English, French and Spanish, the languages spoken by the people of the region.
In Arab countries, many have opted not to use Western names on the US list, coming up with their own list of names for the storms that hit the Middle East. Currently, Arab countries still use only female names, arguing that it indicates the storms are not very dangerous. Many often cite a study issued by the University of Illinois, female names make people less worried from storms and hurricanes. The same study, however, also said that as a result of this phenomenon, female storms often kill more people, as residents do not take the necessary safety precautions, thinking the storm is not dangerous.
Many Arab countries call storms names that have positive connotations. For example, “Zeina” was the name given to the snowstorm that hit Lebanon because the word in the Arabic language means “good,” which is a way of saying that the storm will not be too bad. Jordan called the storm that hit it “Hoda,” meaning “good guidance,” and Kuwait named its storm “Metha,” meaning “soft and easy.”
So what would you call Tuesday’s storm?
