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Henry or 'On-ri': Internet divided over the RIGHT way to pronounce Hurricane Henri

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens and several other areas

Hurricane Henri is expected to pose a big risk to parts of New York and New England. But even as this dangerous hurricane approaches landfall, people online are debating how it’s pronounced.

“The weather channel is pronouncing the hurricane ‘Onri’. It's Henri.  Hen ... Ree,” read one tweet. Another tweet read, “this news channel gotta be joking pronouncing hurricane henri as ‘onri’.” Another person said, “Hurricane Henri is a good band name. Pronounced Oricane Onri.”

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Despite the fact that to English-speakers, this pronunciation sounds weird, it’s not a wrong one. The name is derived from the Old French name Henri or Henry, which is itself derived from the Old Frankish name Heimeric, and from the Common Germanic name Haimariks. 

This pronunciation is also pretty famous. The name of French professional football coach and former player, Thierry Henry, considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League, is pronounced as “on-ree”, or “awn-ree”. Both Germans and French use this pronunciation, as opposed to “hen-ree”.

As per a CNN report, Hurricane Henri will be dangerous enough to bring damaging winds and storm surges that threaten to bring down trees and power lines and cause major flooding. As of early Sunday morning, Henri was about 135 miles south-southeast of Montauk Point, New York, with 75 mph sustained winds, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. It was moving north at about 21 mph. "The combination of a dangerous storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline," NHC forecasters said.

A hurricane landfall in the region is reportedly rare. Long Island has not had a direct hurricane hit since Gloria in 1985. New England last saw a hurricane landfall with Hurricane Bob in 1991. Superstorm Sandy made landfall in New Jersey in 2012,

"Henri is a much more compact storm than Sandy was when it made landfall," CNN weather producer Robert Shackelford said. More than 50 million people in the Northeast are currently under tropical weather alerts, including more than 12 million people under a storm surge warning, and over five million people under a hurricane warning.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency for the Bronx, Kings, Nassau, New York, Queens, Richmond, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, Sullivan, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Broome, Chenango, Otsego, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Albany, Montgomery, Schenectady, Saratoga, and contiguous counties on Sunday. Cuomo requested President Joe Biden to declare a pre-landfall emergency declaration. This federal declaration authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance to New Yorkers, in the aftermath of Henri and its impacts. 

"New Yorkers are no strangers to the damage that is possible after dealing with a hurricane - we experienced it with Superstorm Sandy and Henri is set to be that level of storm," Cuomo said. "We were given less notice to prepare for Henri because of shifting models, and while there is still time for the storm to shift again, I encourage New Yorkers to take this seriously. Plan for power outages, stock up on necessary supplies, and avoid flooding areas. The state is deploying resources and we will do everything we can to ensure damage is minimal and the people of this state stay safe."