The past few weeks, we’ve been inundated with heartbreaking images of the devastation caused by hurricanes in various parts of America and the Caribbean. Hurricane Harvey struck Texas on August 26th, causing widespread flooding. The latest death toll according to the Washington Post is 82, but authorities believe they could unearth more lives lost in the coming weeks.

Days after Hurricane Harvey hit, Hurricane Irma threatened similar levels of devastation to a number of Caribbean Islands, as well as parts of Cuba and Florida. Buildings were destroyed, dream holidays were ruined, and once again, people lost their lives.

A home in Florida completely destroyed by Hurricane Irma

Now Hurricane José is promising to hit America’s east coast, with the likes of New York bracing itself for torrential downpours and strong winds. And over in the UK, we’ve seen unusual weather too – much less catastrophic than any of the hurricanes they’re experiencing on the other side of the Atlantic – but Storm Aileen last week saw winds pick up to the speed of 74mph in some parts of the country.

The one thing you’ll notice all these hurricanes and storms have in common, however, is the fact they’ve all got names. They’re all identified by a human name, but why? And who gets to pick?

According to the Evening Standard, storms and hurricanes have been being named since the 1950s. The names are managed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which says it’s much easier to remember a hurricane by name than to give it a number. It helps when it comes to warnings, too, because by giving the storm a name, people become more familiar with it and will likely pay more attention to the advice they’re being given if they’re located anywhere in its path.

The WMO has various lists – there are different ones for different parts of the world, presumably so the names feel familiar to their individual cultures – which are alphabetic. The first storm of the season will take the first name on the list, beginning with the letter A, and they’ll carry on in a chronological order. It’s why José follows Irma, which followed Harvey – because the alphabet runs H, I, J.

Likewise, Storm Aileen in the UK was evidently the first notable storm of the season, hence the chosen name begins with A. But where the alphabet contains 26 letters, the WMO’s list of names only consists of 21, with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z all being excluded.

Initially, only women’s names were distributed for hurricanes and storms, but in 1979 they decided to include men’s names too, and now they alternate between male and female names in succession of the alphabet. So there’s a lot of thought that goes into it.

Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans when it hit in 2005

For storms in the Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific regions (the likes of which include Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey), there are six lists which are rotated every six years, so eventually the same names will come back around. But if a storm is so strong that it’s widely associated with complete devastation, the WMO will replace the name with an alternative one of the same letter. This is what happened with the likes of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

H/T Cosmo UKÂ