美国国家公共电台 NPR--South Dakota residents reflect on one of the nation's deadliest floods

South Dakota residents reflect on one of the nation's deadliest floods

Transcript¹

Thursday marks 50 years since a flood killed 238 people in Rapid City, South Dakota. Survivors² say it's important to tell their stories, so future generations don't repeat deadly mistakes of the past.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Last year, I went for a run while visiting Rapid City, S.D. I ran this path along Rapid Creek³ in the middle of town. The riverside path led through green parkland, which, according to a sign, used to be neighborhoods until a flood destroyed them 50 years ago. Seth Tupper of South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports on what that flood changed.

SETH TUPPER, BYLINE⁴: On a June night in 1972, up to 15 inches of rain fell on the Black Hills. It collected in Rapid Creek and roared downhill straight into Rapid City, where thousands of homes and businesses stood in the floodplain. Mayor Don Barnett was on the west side of town where the creek flows into a lake talking with a utility crew as the water rose.

DON BARNETT: All the men and I were standing⁵ around, and we heard this crunch⁶, and the Canyon⁷ Lake bridge floated into Canyon Lake.

TUPPER: Barnett's friend was supervising the crew.

BARNETT: He said, Mayor, somebody could get killed in this damn thing. And I said, I'm going to go put the warning out absolutely right now.

TUPPER: He rushed to a pay phone and called local broadcaster Robb DeWall.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ROBB DEWALL: Rapid City Mayor Don Barnett said a few minutes ago - that's been about 10:40 p.m. - that any citizens living on property abutting⁸ Rapid Creek should leave immediately. He said all of those properties throughout the city should be abandoned.

TUPPER: It was too late. A flood surge ruptured⁹ the Canyon Lake Dam.

(SOUNDBITE OF RUSHING WATER)

TUPPER: Standing alongside the creek today, Robbie Corner remembers being a teenager out with friends that night in 1972. When they got to his house, it was surrounded by deep water, with his mother and some neighbors inside.

ROBBIE CORNER: Houses started washing by where we were standing there, and propane tanks were hitting trees and exploding. And people were on the roofs of the houses that were floating by, and they were screaming. You know, we could just see there's no way we're going to be able to get to the house and hoped that they had gotten out of there while we were gone.

TUPPER: In the morning, there was nothing left of his mother's home. Her body was found several miles downstream. As Pastor¹⁰ Ron Masters' home was flooding, he, his wife and their five kids fled in their car, but the water swept it off the road. Masters, his wife and two children got out, clinging to trees, but one son was swept away. Their three other children were trapped in the car. When morning came, it was underwater, except for the roof. Two of their sons were dead inside. But...

RON MASTERS: I heard a voice under my feet. I couldn't believe I heard a voice. And so I laid my cheek in the water, and I spoke¹¹ up to the window, and I said, who is it? Who is it?

TUPPER: It was his daughter JoAnn, who survived in a small pocket of air inside the vehicle all night. In the aftermath, grim numbers piled up - 238 people dead and 3,000 injured. Sharon Weber was a nurse.

SHARON WEBER: I can still see the faces of some of those - just scared to death.

TUPPER: A couple of days after the flood, Mayor Barnett and the city council banned rebuilding in the floodplain. Later, with federal help, they'd relocate survivors in safer areas. Today, instead of thousands of homes, the banks of Rapid Creek are miles of public land and open space. Barnett says it needs to stay that way.

BARNETT: And I'm going to do - the rest of my days educating people about why it's a stupid thing to live near a creek.

TUPPER: Over the years, Barnett and other survivors have successfully fought attempts to again build near the creek. They're sharing their stories in this 50th year after the flood, hoping future generations won't repeat the mistakes of the past.

For NPR News, I'm Seth Tupper in Rapid City.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

7 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

8 abutting   

adj.邻接的v.（与…）邻接( abut的现在分词 )；（与…）毗连；接触；倚靠

参考例句：

• He was born in 1768 in the house abutting our hotel. 他于1768年出生于我们旅馆旁边的一幢房子里。 来自辞典例句
• An earthquake hit the area abutting our province. 与我省邻接的地区遭受了一次地震。 来自辞典例句

9 ruptured   

v.（使）破裂( rupture的过去式和过去分词 )；（使体内组织等）断裂；使（友好关系）破裂；使绝交

参考例句：

• They reported that the pipeline had ruptured. 他们报告说管道已经破裂了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wall through Berlin was finally ruptured, prefiguring the reunification of Germany. 柏林墙终于倒塌了，预示着德国的重新统一。 来自辞典例句

10 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。