People walk along the shore where debris is scattered in Port Vila, Vanuatu, during Cyclone Pam.
As you read this, we will have had a taste of Cyclone Pam in its last gasps of energy as it now succumbs to the cooler waters well southeast of our shores.
Thank goodness that we're tucked away here inland and comparatively safe from such vicious elements of nature. The
category 5 tropical cyclone, was as fierce as they get and the destruction that it has caused will take years to rebuild. With dozens of lives believed to have been lost on the islands of Vanuatu and parts of the area virtually flattened, it's hard to comprehend the power of such a ravaging beast.
Tropical storms, cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons, although named differently depending where they are in the world, describe the same disastrous scenarios. We're talking here about massive low pressure circulation systems in the atmosphere, producing strong winds rotating clockwise in our hemisphere.
A tropical cyclone has no fronts as such and is characterised by a well-defined "eye" - the low pressure centre, spiral rain bands and fierce winds. Typically, the birth of such a beast originates over tropical or subtropical waters, rotating as it strengthens, fuelled by heat released when moist air rises and the water vapour it contains condenses. For this, the sea temperature must be at least 27C. Fortunately, tropical cyclones can be predicted several days in advance, giving those likely to be in its path time to batten down the hatches as best they can and hunker down.
The naming system of tropical cyclones has been used since the 1940s, with each region of the globe being assigned a specific table with names in alphabetical order, alternating between male and female.
