For the first time, China asks netizens to name Typhoon

The China Meteorological Administration has asked Chinese netizens to name a Typhoon, reports the China Meteorological News.

It is the first time that the national weather service has authorized individuals to name a Typhoon through a new media platform.

Part of the poster of the online activity "Giving a name to a Typhoon" launched by China Meteorological Administration on Sina Weibo to solicit a replacement name for Typhoon Haima [Photo: China Meteorological Administration]

A prize solicitation was launched through the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo on Tuesday to seek a replacement name for Typhoon Haima that is expected to last from September 13th through the 18th.

The activity link was reposted some 90,000 times by Thursday noon, with netizens offering names from ancient Chinese poems, figures or birds in mythology, among many others.

The name "Milu" following China's rare milu deer has received the most likes, as the pronunciation is the same as "getting lost", containing the wish that the Typhoon would lose its way and fail to hit land.

According to the requirements, the new name should contain two to three Chinese characters, with its pinyin, the official Romanization from Mandarin Chinese, required to be no more than 9 letters.

With no improper meanings, the name should be easy to pronounce in broadcasting and according to the instructions, commercial brand names as well as current and previous typhoon names could not be used.

Residents return to their houses to save what's left from the typhoon, after the Super Typhoon Haima moving towards Philippines, at Tuguegarao City of Cagayan in Manila, Philippines on October 21, 2016. [Photo: VCG/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images/George Calvelo]

The name "Haima" will be removed from the tropical cyclone naming lists, due to the massive devastation the 18th typhoon of 2016 with this name brought to the Philippines.

The announcement was made by the Typhoon Committee, an inter-governmental body organized under the joint auspices of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), during its 49th annual session in February 2017.

Names of typhoons are generally assigned in order from predetermined lists. However, if a typhoon bearing a certain name caused huge losses to one or more member countries and regions, the involved members can ask for a permanent removal of the name from the lists to avoid confusion.

The replacement name is usually recommended by the member who provided the original name.

The name "Haima", provided by China, had been used three times, until it killed at least 14 Filipinos and caused huge damages of more than 3.73 billion Philippine pesos (76.9 million USD) last year.

China Meteorological Administration will submit three names proposed by Chinese netizens to the Typhoon Committee. The final chosen name will be announced in February 2018.

The Typhoon Committee removed a total of 40 typhoon names from 2000 to 2016, among them 32 due to the severe damage the typhoons had caused.