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　　More than a million people remain without electrical power and other normal services nearly five days after Hurricane Ike passed over the Houston-Galveston area. Tensions are growing between various government entities¹ over problems in providing needed relief.
飓风艾克5天前袭击了休斯敦-加尔维斯顿地区，5天过去了，仍有100多万人家里没电，也得不到其他正常的服务。如何提供急需的救助问题使政府各部门间关系出现紧张。
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff says he may have to, as he puts it, "kick someone in the rear" over reported failures in the federal effort to provide disaster victims with food, water, ice and material to cover damaged roofs.
美国国土安全部长切尔托夫表示，有报导指出，联邦政府没能及时为灾区民众提供食物、饮水、冰块以及遮盖受损屋顶的材料，他可能不得不“踢一些人的屁股”了。
Callers to local radio stations are complaining about lack of electrical power and fuel, and blaming government officials for the delays in providing relief. Lack of coordination² has been a problem in some cases.
人们打电话给当地电台抱怨说，他们没电，没汽油。他们批评政府官员延迟了救援努力。这其中有些是因为缺乏协调而造成的。
There was one report of food donations from a large grocery store chain being turned away by federal officials at a point of distribution in Houston.
有一则报导说，一家大型副食品商店捐赠的食品在休斯敦一个分发点被联邦官员拒绝接收。
On Tuesday, Houston officials took control of supply distributions after they learned of people standing³ in line for hours only to be turned away empty handed. Chertoff says some of the problem may result from the Houston metropolitan⁴ area's sprawl⁵, which he says makes it a logistical challenge to get supplies to the right places.
星期二，休斯敦官员听说有人排了几个小时的队、但却空手而归之后，接管了物资分发工作。切尔托夫部长说，有些问题可能是因为休斯敦面积太大、把物资运往所需要的地方会比较困难。
He is to meet with Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett in the coming hours to work out problems and foster better cooperation.
Meantime, in Galveston, officials have had to suspend a program started Tuesday that would allow residents to return to the stricken island to check their property and then leave before sunset. A massive line of vehicles formed after the announcement was made and the traffic was slowed further by officials checking every person's identification before letting them proceed.
After a heated city council meeting, Galveston city Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas won extension of her emergency powers for another week, but complaints from displaced citizens are growing.
Most of the beachfront area on the island was devastated⁶, but houses and business buildings farther in withstood the storm even though many of them are in dire⁷ need of repairs and cleaning because of the storm surge from Hurricane Ike.
岛上建在岸边的房屋大都被摧毁，但离岸远一些的房屋和商业建筑都经住了暴风雨的冲击，不过很多都急需修复和清理。
Many buildings downtown show a high water mark, left by the flood, more than two meters high. Merchandise, furniture and equipment inside many businesses were soaked and, in many cases, ruined by the water.
The biggest problem for most of the Houston area is lack of energy - a matter viewed with some chagrin⁸ by residents of the city that touts⁹ itself as the "energy capital of the world."
休斯顿地区大部分地区的最大问题是缺乏能源，当地居民认为这对素有“世界能源首都”之称的休斯顿是一大耻辱。
Refineries¹⁰ came through the hurricane with little damage, but they are struggling to resume full operations, partly because they are operating on emergency generators¹¹.
休斯顿的炼油厂虽然在暴风雨中只受到轻微损害，但还无法恢复全面运作，因为他们使用的是紧急发电机。
People are still waiting in long lines for gasoline at the few stations that have fuel and more than a million people remain without electricity.
少数几个还有汽油的加油站前排满了等待加油的民众，有超过100万人家里还在停电。
Texas Governor Rick Perry says private companies that supply power to the Houston area are making progress in restoring electric lines.
德州州长佩里说，为休斯顿地区供电的几家私营电力公司在抢修电力上取得了一些进展。
"There are more than 7,500 personnel working around the clock to restore power, you see trucks from Minnesota and Florida, they are here and they are doing work to get this power back on," he said.
他说：“7500多名工人正夜以继日地抢修电力，有来自明尼苏达和佛罗里达的卡车，他们来这里来协助抢修，帮助恢复电力。”
Perry says close to three million people were without power after the storm.
佩里说，在暴风雨后有至少300万人家里停电。
Each day that goes by without full electrical service represents a huge financial loss, not only for the businesses and corporate¹² operations based in Houston, but for the entire country. Refineries in the area produce almost a quarter of the transportation fuel used in the United States and Houston's port is the second busiest in the nation, when operating normally.
在还没有全面恢复供电前，每一天都会对休斯顿的商家和企业，甚至对全美国造成巨大的财政损失。休斯顿炼油厂生产的汽油占全美运输燃料的四分之一，而休斯顿港在正常情况下，是美国第二大繁忙的港口。
Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and the metropolitan area is the sixth largest. Having this area shut down for more than a week represents a hard blow to the U.S. economy at a time when the housing finance crisis and Wall Street failures are hammering the markets.
休斯顿是全美第4大城市，更是全美第6大都会区，让这样一座大城市停摆超过一个星期，对美国经济来说，特别是在房贷危机以及华尔街动荡影响全球市场的时刻，将是一个更沉重的打击。