The destructive power of a storm depends on how it is named?

Hurricanes with feminine names tend to be more destructive than those with masculine names, according to a new study.

The conclusion comes from a study of hurricane death rates in the United States over the past six decades, according to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Hurricanes kill more than 200 people in the United States each year, and severe storms can claim thousands of lives.

Researchers analyzed the actual death toll for every hurricane that hit the United States from 1950 to 2012, excluding Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Audrey (1957), which were much deadlier than the average hurricane.

Experts found that for severe storms, the more feminine the storm name, the more lives it claimed.

This is simply because a storm with a feminine name (like Alexandra, Christina or Victoria) is considered less dangerous and less ominous than one with a more masculine name (like Alexander, Christopher or Victor). As a result, people living in the path of these storms may take fewer precautions, making them more vulnerable to natural disasters.

The researchers say their findings point to the “unfortunate and unintended” consequences of gender-specific hurricane naming, and have important implications for lawmakers, meteorologists and the public regarding hurricane communication and preparedness.

“The problem is, a storm’s name has nothing to do with its severity,” said Kiju Jung, lead author of the study and a PhD candidate in marketing at the University of Illinois. “Names are assigned randomly, based on a predetermined list of alternating male and female names. If people in the path of a storm assess risk based on the name of the storm, then this can be extremely dangerous.”

According to Vietnamnet