‘Female’ storms more deadly than male of species

STORMS with female names can be more deadly than those given male names, research has found.

Female-named storms have killed more because people don’t find them as threatening and therefore don’t adequately prepare for risks, according to a US study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers at the University of Illinois and Arizona State University studied six decades of hurricane death rates according to the storm name’s gender.

They set up experiments to see whether the name affected the perceived danger of the hurricane. In one exercise, respondents said they thought storms with male names would be more damaging than with female names.

“Our model suggests that changing a severe hurricane’s name from Charley … to Eloise … could nearly triple its death toll,” the study’s authors said.

Co-author Sharon Shavitt said people thought storms with gentler-sounding names would be less violent.

“In judging the intensity of a storm, people appear to be applying their beliefs about how men and women behave,” she said.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dan Narramore said “regardless of whether they’re given a female or male name, they can be dangerous and destructive storms”.

“Always pay attention to the bureau’s website for the latest forecasts and warnings,” he said.

Mr Narramore said assigning names began as a way to help people differentiate between storms that might be simultaneously occurring.

In 1975, which was International Women’s Year, the then federal science minister ordered cyclones be given male and female names, which was a first in the world.

The bureau assigns names for tropical cyclones in the Australian region.