美国有线新闻 CNN 最高级别飓风“多里安”登陆巴哈马 美国佛州将迎狂风暴雨

 

When we produced today's program, scientists weren't sure when or if Hurricane Dorian would make landfall in the mainland United States. Monday night the National Weather Service said it was an extremely dangerous category-4 storm with wind speeds of 145 miles per hour. It had weakened somewhat from when it hit the Bahamas on Sunday. At that time it was a category-5 system, the strongest classification with wind speeds of 180 miles per hour.

The independent island chain has seen a lot of hurricanes since record-keeping began in the 1800s. But this is the first Category 5 storm known to strike the Bahamas. And it was still battering¹ them last night. That's one of the characteristics that make Hurricane Dorian unique. It's been very slow-moving. As its eye, the center of the storm, passed over Grand Bahama Monday, Hurricane Dorian was moving at 1 mile per hour. You move at three miles per hour when you're walking. So this means the storm spends more time blasting buildings with its destructive winds and soaking land with its drenching² rain.

Forecasters said 24 to 30 inches of rain was possible in some parts of the Bahamas. And that's in addition to flooding from the storm surge — the rise in sea water pushed ashore³ by hurricane winds. The damage was expected to be catastrophic. Another unusual thing about Dorian is that it's been hard to track. Last week meteorologists around the world expected the storm to meander⁴ west through the Atlantic and across the U.S. state of Florida. As of last night, their models predicted it would turn north, staying about 50 miles off Florida's east coast but not actually making landfall. A CNN meteorologist says this will still bring hurricane force winds, storm surge and heavy rain to the state. While its future is a mystery, Hurricane Dorian's path has been deadly.

1 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 drenching   

n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• A black cloudburst was drenching Siena at midday. 中午，一场天昏地暗的暴风雨在锡耶纳上空倒下来。 来自辞典例句
• A drenching rain poured down and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground. 一阵倾盆大雨泼下来了，越来越大的狂风把它顺着地面刮成了一片一片的雨幕。 来自辞典例句

3 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

4 meander   

n.河流的曲折，漫步，迂回旅行；v.缓慢而弯曲地流动，漫谈

参考例句：

• Visitors and locals alike meander along the sidewalks of the Seine River.游客与当地人沿着塞纳河岸漫步聊天。
• They tumble down mountainsides and meander through flat farmlands.它们滚滚冲下山脊，蜿蜒穿过平坦的农田。