Odisha, West Bengal brace for Cyclone Dana: How was it named and what it means?

Cyclone Dana is expected to strengthen into a severe cyclonic storm and is likely to make landfall late on Thursday, October 24.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the state administration was ready to respond to any disaster that could occur due to an impending cyclone and announced that primary and secondary schools in nine districts would remain closed from Wednesday to October 26 as a precautionary measure.

A well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on Tuesday as it rolled towards the eastern coast with the likelihood of turning into a severe cyclonic storm, the IMD said.

As per the prediction of the India Meteorological Department, the weather system may gain strength and the impending cyclone make landfall somewhere between Puri and Sagar Island.

The IMD, in its bulletin, said the well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal concentrated into a depression and lay centered at 700 km away from Paradip in Odisha and 750 km from Sagar Island in West Bengal around 8.30 am on Tuesday.

The depression will further intensify into a cyclonic storm by October 23 and cross north Odisha and southern West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island in the early morning hours of October 25 as a severe cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 100-110 kmph, gusting to 120 kmph, it said.

Cyclone Dana will be the second cyclonic storm to strike the Indian coast in two months, following Cyclone Asna in August. 

How did Cyclone Dana get its name?

As per the tropical cyclone naming system developed by the WMO, Qatar has named the severe storm Cyclone Dana. In Arabic, Dana means 'generosity'. Usually, names for cyclonic storms are based on a particular region's traditional way of naming tropical cyclones.

The cyclones are named by nations that are part of the World Meteorological Organisation including Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. The naming of the cyclones was started by the group in 2000. 

In 2018, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were added to the group. Now, all 13 member countries send a total of 13 suggestions for cyclone names which are included in the list consequently.

(With PTI inputs)

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