美国国家公共电台 NPR Back-To-Back Storms And No Pay For Federal Weather Forecasters

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Parts of the federal government are shut down. But needless to say, the weather has continued. There's a bit of extra snow on the ground here in Washington. Rain is sweeping¹ through the West. And emergency workers in many places need information from the government to respond. NPR's Rebecca Hersher reports the weather does not care that the government is shut down.

REBECCA HERSHER, BYLINE²: On Wednesday, Christopher Berry was at his office in Santa Cruz, Calif., worrying about the rain.

CHRISOPHER BERRY: We have a storm event predicted to start, literally³, in a matter of hours here, where we're going to get six plus inches of rain.

HERSHER: Berry is the watershed⁴ manager for Santa Cruz. And when it rains a lot, one of his jobs is to figure out whether the river that flows through the city will flood. To do that, he relies on stream gauges⁶ that tell him how much water is flowing down the river.

BERRY: We use stream-gauging data on a moment-by-moment basis.

HERSHER: The most important gauges for Santa Cruz are managed by the U.S. Geological Survey. But the USGS is shut down, which means the gauges aren't being calibrated⁷. Berry can't trust that gauge⁵ measurements are accurate.

BERRY: So we know that we could have better data if the USGS staff were out in the field.

HERSHER: Which is why Barry was worried on Wednesday - he was trying to help the city plan for a rainstorm. But he couldn't trust the information he was getting, which is frustrating⁸ and scary. Across the country, the National Weather Service is fielding phone calls from nervous local officials like Berry. Unlike the USGS, the National Weather Service is still open during the shutdown to make sure we all - regular citizens, emergency managers, airline pilots - have accurate weather forecasts.

RAY MARTIN: Yeah, we are always here 24/7, 365.

HERSHER: Ray Martin is the lead forecaster in the Sterling⁹, Va., office. He's also the office's union steward¹⁰. And he says his workdays are pretty normal with one exception.

MARTIN: I can't tell you how many times in the office I've heard the comment, you know, just going to work again like usual but not getting paid, you know (laughter).

HERSHER: Working for the weather service often requires working for many hours or days on end. Ray worked 13 days straight around Christmas without pay. And storms like the back-to-back snowstorms that have hit the Midwest and East Coast only add to the workload¹¹. The phones ring off the hooks during bad weather. Alicia Miller¹² is a hydrologist and union steward in the Pittsburgh office.

ALICIA MILLER: I do have two children. And it's very hard to explain to a daycare that I'm working and they have to watch my children, but I'm not going to be able to pay them.

HERSHER: For now, Miller has been cutting back on other expenses so she can afford to pay.

How much longer can you go on?

MILLER: Not - realistically, not much longer. A month more would be very painful for me.

HERSHER: And the longer the shutdown goes on, the greater the risk for people like Chris Berry back in Santa Cruz, who are operating without important federal data. I called him back the morning after the rainstorm.

BERRY: I would say we basically got lucky.

HERSHER: The river didn't flood this time. But if there's another rainstorm before the government reopens, he says, the risk of unexpected flooding will be even higher. Rebecca Hersher, NPR News.

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 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。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

5 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

6 gauges   

n.规格( gauge的名词复数 )；厚度；宽度；标准尺寸v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的第三人称单数 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• A thermometer gauges the temperature. 温度计可测量温度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fuel gauges dropped swiftly. 燃料表指针迅速下降。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 calibrated   

v.校准( calibrate的过去式和过去分词 )；使标准化；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• Power pesticide dusters can be calibrated and used to apply pertilizer. 动力杀虫剂可以调整用来施肥。 来自辞典例句
• The flexible diaphragm is connected to a plat cantilever-calibrated spring. 柔韧的膜片一扁平的悬臂校正弹簧相连。 来自辞典例句

8 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

10 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

11 workload   

n.作业量，工作量

参考例句：

• An assistant one day a week would ease my workload.每周有一天配一个助手就会减轻我的工作负担。
• He's always grousing about the workload.他总是抱怨工作量大。

12 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。