HONOLULU (AP) -- Where's Waldo? Well, no longer on the list of names given to Asian-Pacific storm systems -- all English names have been given the boot.
In an effort to get residents in those regions to pay more attention to approaching tropical storms and typhoons, 14 nation-states fronting the Western North Pacific Ocean and South China Sea have decided to stop using English names for the weather systems."The English names meant nothing to people in that area," Richard Hagemeyer, U.S. representative to the typhoon committee and director of the National Weather Service's Pacific region, said Monday.
"By going to names in that vernacular, it would tend to focus their attention and interest. It has the capability of reducing the potential of loss of life."
So names like Elvis, Hilda and Waldo are gone. In their stead are Damrey, Longwang and Kirogi, for starters.
The new names come from a list compiled from Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, Marshallese and Thai languages, among others.
The change took effect on Jan. 1.
The list was developed by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the World Meteorological Organization.
Tropical storms and typhoons have been given human names for hundreds of years -- in the West Indies, hurricanes long were named after the saint's day on which they occurred.
Women's names were added in the late 19th century, with the list finally going coed beginning in 1978.
The military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu has named Asia-Pacific storms for decades, using English names -- including Babs, Mort and Zeb -- to promote media coverage that could help save lives.
"The media likes it," Hagemeyer said. "It's much better to say it's Typhoon Charlie than it's 9902 or 12 West or whatever the numbering is."
Under the new system, the first storm in the region will be named Damrey, which is Cambodian for "elephant." It will be followed by Longwang, the Chinese God of Rain, and Kirogi, a North Korean wild goose.
Typhoon season in the Asia-Pacific region lasts from June through November, although they are year-round threats to such locales as Guam.