Vardah, the cyclone whose name means a red rose, struck Chennai and other parts of South India this week. It is fairly well known that tropical cyclones passing over the northern part of the Indian Ocean are named by a system approved by the World Meteorological Organisation. But it might surprise you to know that there are brands called Cyclone themselves, apart from Hurricane and Typhoon and Storm.

There is a brand of gardening, landscaping and home maintenance tools called Cyclone in Australia. In New Zealand, there’s a fencing wire brand called Cyclone since 1903. Classic American brand Popsicle, which makes frozen pop products and is now owned by Unilever, has a brand called Cyclone which it describes as a “red, white and blue twister frozen pop”. There is an insecticide called Cyclone 505 EC made by Osho, a Kenya-based firm, to deal with pests that attack crops.

Cyclone design/ cyclonic separation (cyclones) is used in a number of industries. It is used in sawmills to remove sawdust from extracted air, in oil refineries to separate oils and gases and in the cement industry.

It is used in some vacuum cleaners and kitchen ventilators. It is also used to separate solid waste from water in waste water treatment.

Readers of a certain age will be familiar with the term hurricane lanterns. They use kerosene as fuel and get their name from the glass chimney surrounding the fire.

According to one account, a scientist called Aime Argand came up with the idea for a cylindrical wick around and through which air could flow, making for brighter light. A cylindrical chimney enhanced the air flow.

Hurricane lends its name to a cocktail made from rum, fruit juice, syrup or grenadine, a malt liquor made by Anheuser-Busch, and a type of tall, round cylindrical glass used to serve cocktails in. Swiss watchmaker Breitling makes a model called Avenger Hurricane. There is a watersports and recreational brand of kayaks called Hurricane in the US.

There seem to be fewer brands called Storm, but there is a London-based brand of watches by that name.

PepsiCo test-marketed and dropped a soft drink by that name. Big Storm Brewing Company is a craft beer brewery based in Florida, US.

Typhoon finds favour as a brand of carburettor, a fighter plane (Eurofighter Typhoon), a drone (Yuneec Typhoon H), a range of fans by Hunter Pacific of Australia, a watch (Invicta 50 mm Pro Diver Typhoon Quartz Chronograph Strap), and even homeware.

Complied by Sravanthi Challapalli

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