Karen, Lawin removed from list of typhoon names

MANILA, Philippines – Karen and Lawin will no longer be used as names of future tropical cyclones, according to the state weather bureau.

“Karen and Lawin are likely to be decommissioned after leaving billions of pesos in damage,” Robert Sawi, weather forecasting chief of Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, said.

Pagasa retires the names of typhoons that left at least P1 billion in damage to infrastructure and agriculture as well as big number of fatalities.

The agency said the decommissioning of destructive storms has been practiced since February 1979.

Jun Dalida, Pagasa deputy administrator, said they are thinking of new names to replace Karen and Lawin.

Sawi said five more cyclones are expected to enter the Philippine area of responsibility until December.