Kolkata: Less than a week after severe cyclonic storm ‘Tauktae’ wreaked havoc in some of the Western states, including Maharashtra and Gujarat, the India Meteorological Department has now warned of another depression building over the North Andaman Sea in the Bay of Bengal. The depression is likely to intensify into a powerful cyclone. As per the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) norms, once the depression turns into a cyclone, it will be known as ‘Yaas’. As per the prediction, it will start gaining its ferocity in the Bay of Bengal from May 22-24 onwards and will hit the eastern coasts of West Bengal and Odisha between May 26-27. Like other peculiar names of previous Cyclones and their origins, ‘Yaas’ has also become one of the most searched words on the internet. The word ‘Yaas’ means despair or desperation in Arabic. Multiple organizations like United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia (UNESCA), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), All the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMC) including IMD and Cyclone Warning Centres from across the globe collectively decide the names of cyclones in the world.

The UNESCA and WMO comprise Oman, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, and Pakistan, and United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Qatar, Iran and Saudi Arabia respectively. The global meteorological bodies keep interesting names of Cyclones for their long remembrance and smooth coordination among various disaster management groups during rescue and relief operations. Also, interesting names help various disaster management groups to clear confusion while sending alerts.

After cyclone ‘Yaas’, there are many more cyclones that may hit various places across the globe in the coming months. The first one which is likely to hit after ‘Yaas’ is ‘Gulab’, which was named by Pakistan. After ‘Gulab’, ‘Shaheen’ (named by Qatar), ‘Jawad’ (named by Saudi Arabia), ‘Asani (the name given by Sri Lanka), ‘Sitrang’ (named by Thailand), ‘Mandous’ (by UAE) and ‘Mocha’ named by Yemen) may hit various coastal areas across the globe in the coming months. Speaking to News18, Sanjib Banerjee, the Deputy Director-General of the Indian Meteorological Department at Alipore in Kolkata, said, “We are monitoring the situation and it is too early to forecast the exact trajectory and potential landfall area of ‘Yaas’. The low-pressure system is likely to form on May 22. Then only we can track its exact track and landfall area with more accuracy."