美国国家公共电台 NPR Rethinking Disaster Recovery After A California Town Is Leveled By Wildfire

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

When fires swept through Paradise, Calif., last year, we got a glimpse of our future. The fires destroyed almost 19,000 structures and killed 85 people. And many who study the response to disasters say this should be a wakeup call. Climate change means that wildfires, and floods and hurricanes are increasing in size, and severity and frequency. So how can other communities be ready? Paradise revealed a need to radically¹ change the way we prepare. NPR's Kirk Siegler reports.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE²: On that terrifying November morning, Chris Beaudis narrowly escaped the Sierra foothills town of Paradise in his Ford³ Bronco with only his pit bull.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOG BARKING)

SIEGLER: He lost everything else and has no insurance.

CHRIS BEAUDIS: It's been really crazy at times. It's been really stressful at times. You think that it's the end of the world, you know, especially when everything you have is gone.

SIEGLER: Beaudis' new home is this 300-square-foot FEMA camper trailer wedged into a corner of the fairgrounds in Yuba City. It's in the valley about 50 miles south of what's left of Paradise. He's one of thousands of Camp Fire survivors⁴ still relying on direct federal aid.

BEAUDIS: Thank God that I finally was able to get on the help list and received help. And since then it's just been the biggest stress reliever of my life.

SIEGLER: Now, he may end up staying in this trailer for another year before he can rebuild. But this typical response to a bad disaster may be emblematic⁵ of a bigger problem. Emergency help is deployed⁶, checks are cut so communities can be rebuilt, even in fire-prone areas. Thus far, FEMA alone has paid out more than $85 million in emergency housing aid here for fire survivors like Beaudis. Another $370 million has gone out in Small Business Administration loans. And it's typically the federal government's mission to get the recovery done in about 18 months.

Up in Paradise, that starts with cleaning up.

(SOUNDBITE OF CONSTRUCTION MACHINE BEEPING)

SIEGLER: Six months after the fire, they're still clearing destroyed homes, strip malls, gas stations, the torched frames of cars, scooping⁷ it up and hauling it all away.

(SOUNDBITE OF DEBRIS⁸ BEING HAULED AWAY)

SIEGLER: Debris removal alone is expected to cost close to $2 billion, again, mostly paid for by federal taxpayers⁹. Bob Fenton is FEMA's Region 9 administrator¹⁰ overseeing the California wildfire recovery.

BOB FENTON: The quicker we remove the debris, the faster reconstruction¹¹ can start.

SIEGLER: Clean up the debris and rebuild. This has been the mindset for disaster recovery in this country for decades, according to experts who have worked in disaster response and now study it. We wait until something happens and then come in and fix it. But this model is outdated¹² in the era of climate change.

JOSH SAWISLAK: We have been very reactionary¹³. The problem is that we've kind of gotten away with it for a while.

SIEGLER: Josh Sawislak was a climate adviser¹⁴ to President Obama and served on the Hurricane Sandy recovery task force.

SAWISLAK: We're not going to be able to do that anymore. We're spending more and more money. It's going to get even worse, and climate change is going to force our hand to be smarter about how we do this.

SIEGLER: Every year, we seem to experience the biggest hurricane, the deadliest floods, and now wildfires burning into a whole cities built in and around overgrown dry forests. Behavioral scientist Kathleen Tierney says staying the current course will bankrupt the country.

KATHLEEN TIERNEY: We may be able to slow down the losses, but we can't stop them. I mean, this is the legacy¹⁵. This is the bill that has come due.

SIEGLER: Tierney says it's a basic human instinct to want to rebuild, to return to normal after a traumatic event, even if it's going home to an area we know is risky¹⁶.

TIERNEY: Keep in mind the tendency that a lot of people have to say, we've had our disaster. We're not going to have another one. All we have to do is go back.

SIEGLER: Bob Fenton, the FEMA administrator, has been thinking a lot about this, especially after Paradise. A decade ago, he led an agency initiative to overhaul¹⁷ how communities plan for catastrophes¹⁸. He's been trying to move the needle toward doing more upfront work. Now, this isn't easy. You've got politics tied up with budgeting, and it's hard to get people to prepare for something that hasn't happened yet.

FENTON: We've done a lot of work over the years to help people respond and rebuild. But how do we get them to plan better, prepare better and mitigate¹⁹ against future disasters?

SIEGLER: Last fall, as California was burning, Congress passed the Disaster Recovery Reform Act. Now, for the first time, it will allow the government to use some disaster relief funds for pre-disaster mitigation, including giving better planning tools and data to communities.

FENTON: Communities need to be aware of those risks when doing community planning, not to build in very high-hazard areas. And we need to build smarter.

SIEGLER: That new funding, though, is still a small percentage of the overall disaster relief pot - like, 6 percent. And it's not going to make a difference for this year's fire season. Even after Paradise, local governments here in the West are continuing to approve development in high fire-risk places. Paradise officials themselves are pledging to rebuild, though the new town will likely have a redesigned, safer street grid²⁰ and homes built with more fire-resistant materials. Here's Mayor Jody Jones at a town planning forum²¹.

JODY JONES: We all want to rebuild, and our constituents²² all want to rebuild. But we want to rebuild a more resilient, safe community.

SIEGLER: One of the lessons here is that it's not easy to change the system after one big disaster. But there is time to rethink what the new Paradise will be.

DAN EFSEAFF: So let's walk out over here.

SIEGLER: One morning at dawn, Paradise's parks director Dan Efseaff walks toward a steep cliff along a ridge²³ on the eastern edge of town.

EFSEAFF: Basically, this was the track of the fire. It was directly where the sun's rising over here.

SIEGLER: To our left is a narrow road chock full of leveled houses built right up along the ridge. Efseaff is floating an idea to buy-out willing property owners here and turn the land into open space. It could be a park but also managed as a firebreak, a place where crews could safely park engines and take a stand.

EFSEAFF: The amount of resources that we spend during a disaster, it's a million dollars a day, or it's $10 million a day. Yet, I wish I had a million dollars for this next year to do vegetation work in here.

SIEGLER: There is a provision and money in that disaster relief reform bill for states to do these buyouts and turn land into green spaces. This hasn't been done before in high-risk fire areas, but it could be the future.

EFSEAFF: California needs to figure out, how do we live with fire? How do we adapt to fire? And what we do in Paradise, I think, has huge implications for not only the state but the country.

SIEGLER: Kirk Siegler, NPR News, in Paradise, Calif.

1 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

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 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 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

5 emblematic   

adj.象征的，可当标志的；象征性

参考例句：

• The violence is emblematic of what is happening in our inner cities. 这种暴力行为正标示了我们市中心贫民区的状况。
• Whiteness is emblematic of purity. 白色是纯洁的象征。 来自辞典例句

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 scooping   

n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• Heated ice cream scoop is used for scooping really cold ice cream. 加热的冰淇淋勺是用来舀非常凉的冰淇淋的。 来自互联网
• The scoop-up was the key phase during a scooping cycle. 3个区间中，铲取区间是整个作业循环的关键。 来自互联网

8 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

10 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

11 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

12 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

13 reactionary   

n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的

参考例句：

• They forced thousands of peasants into their reactionary armies.他们迫使成千上万的农民参加他们的反动军队。
• The reactionary ruling clique was torn by internal strife.反动统治集团内部勾心斗角，四分五裂。

14 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

15 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

16 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

17 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

18 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

19 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

20 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

21 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

22 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。