美国国家公共电台 NPR--Survivors of the McKinney fire are forced to rebuild during a time of inflation

Survivors¹ of the McKinney fire are forced to rebuild during a time of inflation

Transcript²

Residents in rural northern California are being allowed back in to assess damage from the deadly fire. High costs for everything from gas to building supplies is making recovery daunting³.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Fire crews are close to containing California's McKinney Fire. It has raced across more than 60,000 acres. It killed four people, it burned down homes and it destroyed most of the town of Klamath River. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports that survivors have to rebuild after inflation pushed up the price of almost everything.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE⁴: In far northern California, like 20 miles from the Oregon state line far, a familiar scene is unfolding - another deadly wildfire upending the lives of people like 82-year-old Harlene Schwander. She lived in the Klamath River Canyon⁵ because she loved the woods, and it was affordable⁶ but high-risk. She lost everything.

HARLENE SCHWANDER: I didn't have insurance because I live on Social Security. People can hardly live on Social Security.

SIEGLER: Schwander is shaken, standing⁷ in the parking lot of a shelter next to her minivan. She just learned her son, who she lived next door to, is in the hospital with severe burns. The only thing she escaped with is a small purse with a few hundred bucks⁸ in savings⁹.

SCHWANDER: I knew this was good for something, this envelope here. It's not leaving my side. I mean, not a lot, but enough to get me through a couple months.

SIEGLER: She's worried about how she'll even begin to recover. Everything is so expensive.

SCHWANDER: I went to Walmart today to, like, replenish¹⁰ my cosmetics¹¹, and it was ridiculous. And so I bought a few things.

SIEGLER: The government says even just basic toiletries and other essentials cost about 10% more than they did even last year. People were already scraping by in rural Siskiyou County. Close to 1 in 4 people here live below the poverty line.

(SOUNDBITE OF HELICOPTER ROTOR WHIRRING)

SIEGLER: About 25 miles to the northwest of that shelter in Yreka is the even smaller village of Klamath River. A firefighting chopper scoops¹² water out of the muddy debris-strewn river rapids. The fire is mostly quieting down, but crews are still putting out hotspots. More than a hundred homes are believed to have been destroyed here, as well as the turkey shooting range and community center built in the 1940s.

Jason Fischer ran sprinklers and generators¹³ to try to save his sixth-generation farm in an RV park. It paid off, but his neighbors aren't so lucky.

JASON FISCHER: You know, they're under-insured. The insurance companies - yeah, they might pay for what they think your house is worth. But they don't take into account it's going to cost you $50,000 to clean up your spot, to rebuild, to start.

SIEGLER: Fischer says it feels like the little guy is getting squeezed around here. The only jobs tend to be with the sheriff or Forest Service, he says. Most of the timber mills have closed.

FISCHER: I don't know how we recover from this as a community. It's going to be really difficult, you know? Because the price of lumber¹⁴, the price of fuel - like you said, everything is just exponentially more expensive now.

SIEGLER: Gas at five bucks a gallon. Lumber prices up 35% since the beginning of 2020. And this corner of the West has already suffered the most destructive wildfires in the U.S. in recent years. Just over these mountains, around Ashland, Ore., you can still see people living in RVs where the deadly Alameda Fire leveled trailer parks and homes along I-5 two years ago. Erin Hillman lost her home that year in the Slater Fire, just down the windy canyon highway from Klamath River, Calif.

ERIN HILLMAN: Gentleman that lived back there - he's not coming back. The young couple and their children back here - I think they're trying to get their house built.

SIEGLER: A descendant of the local Karuk Tribe, she is just now rebuilding. In fact, the McKinney Fire ignited as her foundation was being poured, but she kept on.

HILLMAN: For Karuk people that live here, this is their home. They grew up here. This is where we're from. And they don't want to leave.

SIEGLER: Building materials and labor¹⁵ are so expensive, Hillman won't even have enough insurance money to pay for other needed stuff, like replacing her husband's power tools. They'd be handy right about now.

Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Klamath River, Calif.

(SOUNDBITE OF THOSE WHO RIDE WITH GIANTS' "THE GUARDIANS OF THE DEEPNESS")

1 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

2 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。

3 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

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 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。

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 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。

8 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

10 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

11 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

12 scoops   

n.小铲( scoop的名词复数 )；小勺；一勺[铲]之量；（抢先刊载、播出的）独家新闻v.抢先报道( scoop的第三人称单数 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• I used three scoops of flour and one(scoop)of sugar. 我用了三杓面粉和一杓糖。 来自辞典例句

13 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

15 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。