VOA慢速英语--休斯顿仍在努力从飓风影响中恢复

Houston Still Recovering from Hurricane Harvey

The 2018 Atlantic hurricane season started two months ago, but many Texas families are still struggling to recover from the damage caused by a major storm last year.

The storm, named Hurricane Harvey, hit Houston and areas around the city. Harvey caused flooding in many neighborhoods.

Samantha and Justin Scott and their three children live in the Bear Creek¹ Village neighborhood just west of Houston.

For Samantha Scott, trying to get their life back to normal has been a frightening experience.

“I think when my kids think back to the past year of our life, especially our oldest, I think he’s just going to remember that I cried a lot,” she said.

The Scotts are still rebuilding their home after the floods caused by Hurricane Harvey. It was one of the wettest storm systems in the history of the United States.

Like a slap² in the face

When Harvey hit Texas, it was a Category 4 hurricane. This was the first such storm to strike the U.S. mainland³ since 2005.

For the past year, Samantha and the children temporarily moved away from their home, while Justin stayed behind to work on the house.

Their youngest child was only a few months old when their home was flooded last August.

“I pretty much missed out on the better half of the first year of his life,” Scott said of his youngest child, Kyle. "Missing⁴ things like watching him walk for the first time. Watching him do a lot of the stuff⁵ that kids do for the first time, I missed.”

The Scotts are not alone. Storm damage can be seen in nearby homes.

“It just hits you. It’s like a slap in the face every single time. It’s like it doesn't end, like the hurricane is just continuing,” Samantha said.

Throughout the Bear Creek neighborhood, many homes have "for sale" signs, and building materials along the side of the street. On one street, a neighbor said only three families decided⁶ to stay and the others wanted to sell their homes.

For the families who stayed, rebuilding has been slow. Many people do not have flood insurance.

The Scotts' neighbor, Joe Franz, moved to Bear Creek in 1994. Five years ago, he canceled his flood insurance policy to save money. Hurricane Harvey was the first time floodwaters entered his home.

Franz said he had to take everything out of the house and leave it by the street like the rest of the neighborhood.

A difficult position

Bear Creek flooded because it is next to a man-made lake, which supplies water to homes and businesses. Other homes in the Houston area flooded because they sit in low lying areas.

“Floodplains are like little valleys, and they can hold just about anything nature can throw at us, including Harvey," noted⁷ John Jacob of Texas A&M University.

Jacobs said preventing major flooding will take time.

“Fifty years from now, we need to be able to reclaim⁸ all these floodplains. So, part of this can be through buyout with federal⁹ money. But the other part is just going to be awareness¹⁰,” he said.

Jacobs said there will be other storms and floods in Houston, so when people are buying a home, they should study maps of land height and look for houses built on high ground. Another solution is to raise houses, Jacob said. He lives in a house that has a one-meter high space underneath¹¹ the home.

For now, many people like the Scotts are stuck in their existing home.

“This has kind of put us in a situation where we can’t really afford just to pick up and leave,” Justin said.

But the Scott family is thankful for even a little progress. On the day they spoke¹² with VOA, their new bedroom furniture arrived. It was the first night the family was together in their home since the floods hit.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

afford - v. to be able to pay for (something)?

awareness - n. knowledge and awareness of your own personality or character?

furniture - n. chairs, tables, beds, etc., that are used to make a room ready for use?

hurricane - n. an extremely large, powerful, and destructive¹³ storm with very strong winds that occurs especially in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean?

insurance - n. an agreement in which a person makes regular payments¹⁴ to a company and the company promises to pay money if the person is injured or dies, or to pay money equal to the value of something (such as a house or car) if it is damaged, lost, or stolen?

slap - v. to hit (someone or something) with the front or back of your open hand?

floodplain - n. an area of low, flat land along a stream or river that may flood?

Category 4 - n. The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 rating¹⁵ based on a hurricane's sustained¹⁶ wind speed?

kid - n. a son or daughter

1 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

2 slap   

n.掴，侮辱，拍击声；vt.拍击，侮辱，惩罚，申斥；adv.正面地，直接地，突然地

参考例句：

• He sent the horse forward with a slap on its rump.他拍了一下马尾，马便向前跑去。
• He gave her a slap on the cheek.他打了她一耳光。

3 mainland   

n.大陆，本土

参考例句：

• The new bridge will link the island to the mainland.新的桥梁将把该岛与大陆连接在一起。
• Hong Kong's prosperity relies heavily on mainland.香港的繁荣在很大程度上依赖于大陆。

4 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

5 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

9 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

10 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

11 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 destructive   

adj.破坏（性）的，毁灭（性）的

参考例句：

• In the end,it will be destructive of our whole society.它最终会毁灭我们整个社会。
• It is the most destructive storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的一次风暴。

14 payments   

n.支付，付款，缴纳，报酬( payment的名词复数 )；付出的[要付出的]款项；报答，报偿

参考例句：

• Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
• The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。

15 rating   

n.级别，等级，额定值，责骂，收视率

参考例句：

• It is a ship with a rating of 500,000 tons.这是一艘五十万吨级的船。
• The opinion polls gave the president a high rating.民意测验显示人民对总统的支持率很高。

16 sustained   

adj.持久的，持续的v.维持( sustain的过去式和过去分词 )；支撑；忍受；长期保持

参考例句：

• Without correct leadership, the enthusiasm of the masses cannot be sustained. 没有正确的领导，群众的积极性就不可能持久。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He has sustained a great loss by the death of his father. 他父亲的去世使他蒙受巨大的损失。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》