VOA慢速英语2023--Death Total Grows as Hawaii Works to Recover from Wildfires

Death Total Grows as Hawaii Works to Recover from Wildfires

Hawaii's Governor Joshua Green told U.S. broadcaster CBS that the number of dead from wildfires on the island of Maui will continue to grow over the next week.

Green said the search for bodies and survivors¹ will take at least 10 days and it is "impossible" to guess how many people died. He said he expects crews will find 10 to 20 bodies each day.

"We are prepared for many tragic² stories," Green said.At least 96 people died when a fire spread through the town of Lahaina on Maui last Tuesday. Officials said the fires moved nearly two kilometers per minute.

Searching for bodies

It is the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii since a huge ocean wave killed 61 people in 1960. It will be the costliest³ disaster since a hurricane in 1992. Green estimated the damage to be $5.6 billion.

The National Fire Protection Association said the fires on Maui caused the most deaths from a wildfire in the U.S. since 1918 when over 450 died in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Firefighters were still trying to contain small fires over the weekend. Dogs trained to look for human remains⁴ helped people search the burned Lahaina area. The town was home to about 13,000 people.

"They're going street by street, block by block," said Jeff Hickman, of the Hawaii Department of Defense⁵.

Officials have said the area might be unsafe for some time. The fire might have released dangerous gases and made water undrinkable. People who cannot return home, or those whose homes have burned, will live in hotels and rental⁶ homes.

Searching for a cause

Green said officials are investigating the cause of the fire. They also want to know why safety officials failed to activate⁷ some emergency signals.

Green said dry weather and winds from a hurricane caused the fire to move quickly.

Those in the area said they had little warning about the danger. They said the fire surrounded their homes in minutes. Some people jumped into the ocean to escape.

The fire damaged power lines and reduced mobile phone service, so some people did not get messages that the fire was getting close. Warning sirens⁹ placed around the island that are supposed to turn on in case of a disaster did not turn on.

‘We'll know soon whether or not they did enough to get those sirens going," Green told the broadcaster MSNBC.

Searching for comfort

Some people went to a Catholic¹⁰ church or attended other religious services over the weekend.

Akanesi Vaa was at a church. She said she and her family left their car and climbed a fence to get to a safe place.

"I think a lot of us needed to hear today's message," she said. "All these ashes are going to turn into beauty. I know Lahaina will come back ten times stronger."

Scott Landis is a Christian¹¹ church leader in Makena. He said about 100 people attended his services – twice the usual number.

"You could tell people were here, looking for a word of hope," he said. Many, he added, did not know the location of friends and family.

Asking for help

Some people sent messages on social media services such as Instagram asking people to look for relatives.

"People are being found alive and severely¹² disoriented due to what they have gone through," wrote Heather Baylosis on Saturday. She was looking for the parents of her partner.

Famous television star Oprah Winfrey lives on Maui part of the year. She brought supplies such as towels, water and personal washing products to those who were staying in a shelter. She warned that, in time, the people documenting the disaster will leave and the story will no longer be in newspapers and on television.

"But we're all still going to be here trying to figure out what is the best way to rebuild," Winfrey said.

J.P. Mayoga is helping¹³, too. He works as a cook at a large hotel. Now, he is making meals for 200 hotel employees and their family members who have been living there since Tuesday.

He said it is good that the co-workers can be together.

"Everybody has their story, and everybody has lost something...And they understand what's going on in each other's lives."

Words in This Story

block –n. an area of land in a city that is bordered by streets

rental –adj. property, such as a home, that is offered for use for a temporary period for a cost called rent

siren⁸ –n. a device that makes a very loud noise that is meant to warn people of danger

location –n. the place where something is

disoriented –adj. to become unable to understand what is happening around you

figure out –v. (phrasal) to come to understand or to find something out by thinking

1 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

2 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

3 costliest   

adj.昂贵的( costly的最高级 )；代价高的；引起困难的；造成损失的

参考例句：

• At 81 billion dollars, Katrina is the costliest natural disaster in American history. “卡特里娜”飓风造成了近810亿美圆的损失，是美国历史上最严重的自然灾难之一。 来自互联网
• Senator John Kerry has proposed a tax on the costliest health plans sold by insurance companies. 参议员约翰？克里(JohnKerry)已经提议对保险公司销售的高价值的保险计划征税。 来自互联网

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

7 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

8 siren   

n.汽笛，警报器，迷人的女人，妖妇

参考例句：

• The cars had stopped at the sound of the approaching siren.这些汽车听到愈来愈近的警笛声便停了下来。
• That woman is a real siren.那女人真是条美女蛇.。

9 sirens   

n.汽笛( siren的名词复数 )；妖冶而危险的女人；危险的诱惑；塞壬（古希腊传说中半人半鸟的女海妖，惯以美妙的歌声引诱水手，使他们的船只或触礁或驶入危险水域）

参考例句：

• police cars with lights flashing and sirens blaring 警灯闪烁、警笛刺耳的警车
• In big cities you always hear sirens all the time. 在大城市里，你总能听到警笛声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

11 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。