CYCLONES

Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons are tropical cyclones with maximum sustained wind speed exceeding 119 km/h near their centres, and every year responsible of thousands of victims.

"Hurricane", "cyclone" and "typhoon" are different terms for the same weather phenomenon which is accompanied by torrential rain and maximum sustained wind speeds exceeding 119 kilometers per hour. In the western North Atlantic, central and eastern North Pacific, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, such a weather phenomenon is called "hurricane". In the western North Pacific, it is called "typhoons". In the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, it is called “cyclone". In western South Pacific and southeast India Ocean, it is called “severe tropical cyclone.” In the southwest India Ocean, it is called “tropical cyclone.”

Between 1886 and 1998, out of the 566 Atlantic hurricanes in the Atlantic, twenty two have grown as strong as to become Category 5 hurricanes with maximum sustained wind speeds exceeding 249 km/h. The worst recent tropical cyclones include Hurricane Mitch (Honduras) in 1998, Hurricane Katrina (USA) in 2005 and most recently hurricane Gustav (Haiti) in 2008, and severe cyclone Nargis (Myanmar) in 2008.

The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season was devastating, with casualties and widespread destruction in the Caribbean, Central America and the United States of America. For the first time on record, six consecutive tropical cyclones made landfall on the United States of America, and two major hurricanes (Gustav and Ike) hit Cuba.

In the East Pacific, sixteen named tropical cyclones were recorded in 2008, of which seven evolved into hurricanes and two of them into major hurricanes at Category 3 or higher. In the Western North Pacific, twenty two named tropical cyclones were recorded in 2008, ten of which were classified as typhoons compared to the long-term average of twenty seven and fourteen, respectively.

The Western North Pacific has been hit several times in September - October 2009 by numerous typhoons such as Ondoy, Ketsana, Parma, Lupit and Mirinae, causing many casualties.