纽约时报 风暴露出最凶悍的面孔 南北卡险情升级(4)

The utility said customers should fill up bathtubs and water jugs¹ in preparation.

该公司建议客户将浴缸和水壶都装满水，以备不时之需。

Conditions were worrisome, but far less dire², in Charlotte, the center of a sprawling³, highly populated area that was at a virtual standstill on Sunday as heavier rains approached.

夏洛特周边地区幅员辽阔、人口众多，但随着更大的雨势临近，该地区周日已经进入实质的瘫痪状态，好在夏洛特的情况虽然令人担忧，但要比周边地区好得多。

Clouds wrapped around the crown of the Bank of America Corporate⁴ Center — the state’s tallest building, at 871 feet —

乌云笼罩着美国银行企业中心 —— 该州最高的建筑，高达871英尺（约265米）—— 的上空，

and uptown streets, typically quiet on weekends, were almost entirely⁵ deserted⁶.

住宅区的街道，周末时通常都是一派安静的景象，也几乎彻底荒废了。

The authorities reported a train derailment in Anson County, southeast of Charlotte, late Sunday, and local media said some residents had been evacuated⁷.

当局报道，周日晚些时候，夏洛特东南部的安森县发生了一起列车脱轨事故，当地媒体称部分居民已经得到疏散。

It was not immediately clear whether the episode was connected to the storm.

该起事故是否与风暴有关一时还不清楚。

Farther west, the United States Forest Service said there was “increased potential for landslides⁸ on steep mountain slopes,”

至于西部地区，美国林务局表示“陡峭的山坡地段可能会发生滑坡”。

and it warned that parts of North Carolina that saw such incidents in May were "susceptible” to new trouble.

该局还警告称，北卡5月已经经历过此类事件的那些地区这次"很可能"会再次遇到麻烦。

The emergency response in the Carolinas was coupled with scattered⁹ political tensions about how best to handle a storm’s onslaught.

南北卡一面要针对灾情采取紧急应对措施，还要分散如何应对风暴冲击最好这一问题带来的政治紧张局势。

In an emergency meeting on Sunday,

在周日召开的紧急会议上，

the City Council in Conway, S.C., voted to pursue an injunction against county and state authorities

康涅狄格州康威市的市议会投票通过禁令，

to halt construction of a five-foot temporary barrier along a key highway leading to Myrtle Beach.

暂停县、州当局在沿着通往默特尔海滩的主要公路上修建五英尺（约1.5米）高的临时屏障。

Councilors were concerned that the barrier, while allowing traffic to reach the South Carolina coast, would drastically increase flooding behind it,

议员们担心，修建屏障尽管能放车辆前往南卡罗来纳州的海岸，也会大大增加屏障背后灾情的严重性，

endangering as many as 940 homes that might not have otherwise flooded.

从而危及到多达940所原本可能不会被淹没的房屋。

The injunction they are seeking would stop any more building until “sufficient scientific modeling” is conducted to show that the barriers would not worsen the flooding in Conway.

这一禁令将阻止当地继续修建更多的屏障，直到有“充分的科学建模”表明这些屏障不会加重康威的洪灾。

But while the authorities pleaded with residents to heed¹⁰ their warnings and wrestled¹¹ with the complex riddles¹² of an increasingly urgent response,

然而，除了劝解居民们听从他们的警告，忙于日益紧迫又错综复杂的抗洪救灾工作，

they also prepared for what will most likely be a long and costly¹³ recovery.

当局还已经开始为将来那极有可能耗时良久且耗费颇大的重建工作做准备了。

North Carolina officials believe tens of thousands of homes in the state have been damaged so far, with days of problems still in the offing.

北卡的官员相信，到目前为止，该州遭到破坏的房屋数以万计，且接下来还有更多的问题等着他们。

In many places, recovery was a distant notion on Sunday.

截至周日，对许多地方而言，重建还是一个十分遥远的概念。

Some residents who had already been displaced were facing another move.

一些已经流离失所的灾民再度面临搬迁。

One of them was Nancy Tillery, who woke up on Sunday, her 60th birthday, at the Red Carpet Inn and Suites¹⁴ in Kinston, N.C.,

南希·蒂勒里就是一例。周日那天刚好是她的六十岁生日，当时她还住在北卡金士顿的红屋顶套房酒店，

where she had gone after her New Bern home filled with about five feet of water and a tree fell into her living room.

她才刚从新伯尔尼的家中逃出来，因为她家已经涌进了大约5英尺（约1.5米）深的洪水，还有一棵树砸入了她家客厅。

Just after 9 a.m., police officers knocked on the family’s hotel room door

上午9点过后，警察敲了敲这家人的客房房门，

and handed them a slip of paper reading: “It is probable that this area will flood and may be cut off from emergency access.”

并递给了他们一张纸条，上面写着：“这个地区很可能会淹没，还可能无法使用紧急通道。”

The hotel is a few yards from the banks of a river that had risen about 16 feet since Wednesday.

酒店距离自周三以来上涨了将近16英尺（将近5米）的一条河仅几码之遥。

It was already swamping outlying parts of the town.

河水已经淹没了小镇外围地区。

About an hour after receiving the notice, Ms. Tillery and her husband were packing up her son’s car and debating where to go next.

收到通知大约一小时之后，蒂勒里已经和丈夫往儿子的车上收拾东西，对接下来去哪儿两人仍在争论。

With many routes already flooded, they were leaning toward taking back roads home to New Bern.

由于许多道路都已经被洪水淹没，他们正倾向于返回新伯尔尼。

A friend had offered them a trailer.

一位朋友借给了他们一辆拖车。

Around the same time, New Bern’s mayor appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

就在此时，新伯尔尼市长出现在了美国全国广播公司“相约媒体”的节目上。

He warned that he feared more flooding.

他警告说，他担心新伯尔尼的灾情还会继续。

1 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

2 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

3 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

4 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

5 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

6 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

7 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

8 landslides   

山崩( landslide的名词复数 )； （山坡、悬崖等的）崩塌； 滑坡； （竞选中）一方选票占压倒性多数

参考例句：

• Landslides have cut off many villages in remote areas. 滑坡使边远地区的许多村庄与外界隔绝。
• The storm caused landslides and flooding in Savona. 风暴致使萨沃纳发生塌方和洪灾。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

11 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 riddles   

n.谜（语）( riddle的名词复数 )；猜不透的难题，难解之谜

参考例句：

• Few riddles collected from oral tradition, however, have all six parts. 但是据收集的情况看，口头流传的谜语很少具有这完整的六部分。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗
• But first, you'd better see if you can answer riddles. 但是你首先最好想想你会不会猜谜语。 来自辞典例句

13 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

14 suites   

n.套( suite的名词复数 )；一套房间；一套家具；一套公寓

参考例句：

• First he called upon all the Foreign Ministers in their hotel suites. 他首先到所有外交部长住的旅馆套间去拜访。 来自辞典例句
• All four doors to the two reserved suites were open. 预定的两个套房的四扇门都敞开着。 来自辞典例句