Destructive typhoon "Jolina" (international name "Conson") will soon be retired by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) from its list of tropical cyclone names after leaving massive damage to infrastructure and agriculture in the country early in September.
The decommissioning of "extraordinarily destructive storms" has been practiced by PAGASA since February 1979.
A tropical cyclone name is replaced once the cost of damage to agriculture and infrastructure has reached more than P1 billion and/or claimed at least 300 lives.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council estimated that the cost of agricultural damage caused by Jolina has already reached P1.53 billion as of Wednesday, Sept. 22.
PAGASA's Jun Galang said they have yet to receive the final report of damages and casualties from the Office of Civil Defense before deciding on whether or not Jolina will be retired from its list of tropical cyclone names.
During its passage from Sept. 7 to 8, Jolina made a total of nine landfalls over Eastern Visayas, Bicol Region, Southern Luzon, and Central Luzon.
PAGASA’s list of tropical cyclone names consists of four sets of 25 names, with 10 auxillary or "reserved" names.
In the event that the number of tropical cyclones within the year exceeds 25, an auxiliary list is used.
The sets of names were used every four years, from 2021-2024, 2025-2028, 2029-2032, and so on.