美国国家公共电台 NPR 澳大利亚遭遇严重洪灾 数万人撤离

Less than two years after bushfires blazed across Australia, the country's east coast is seeing its worst flooding in decades. Some areas accumulated over a yard of rainfall since downpours started last Thursday. Tens of thousands have been ordered to evacuate. On Sunday alone, 500 gigaliters of water, the same volume of water in Sydney Harbor — spilled out of Sydney's largest dam. Even as rain subsides, the floodwater will still pose trouble for weeks to come. We're joined now by Laura Chung, who has been reporting on all of this for the Sydney Morning Herald.

在澳大利亚森林大火肆虐不到两年后，该国东海岸遭遇数十年来最严重的洪灾。自上周四开始下暴雨以来，部分地区的积水已超过一码。数万人被要求撤离。仅周日一天，悉尼最大的水坝就溢出了500千兆升的水，这已经与悉尼港的水量相当。即使雨停了，洪水仍会在未来几周带来麻烦。现在劳拉·钟将和我们连线，她一直在为《悉尼先驱晨报》报道相关消息。

Welcome.

欢迎你。

LAURA CHUNG: Thank you for having me.

劳拉·钟：谢谢你们邀请我。

CHANG: Thank you for being with us. So what are you hearing from people on the ground there? Can you talk about the scope of the damage that they've seen so far?

张：谢谢你和和我们连线。你从当地的人那里了解到了哪些情况？你能介绍一下到目前为止他们所看到的破坏范围吗？

CHUNG: Of course. So unlike the bushfires, we don't actually have a clear image of how much has just been damaged and destroyed. We know it's a significant part of the state. But what we do know is there has been water everywhere. We've heard and seen houses just being picked up and floating down rivers that used to be farms and paddocks. We've heard of livestock just being completely washed away. There are videos of cows and horses just trying to make it through these really heavy floodwaters. And what used to be streets and paddocks are just now, yeah, completely flooded with water right up to where the power lines are.

钟：当然。与森林大火不同的是，我们实际上并没有清晰的图像来显示灾区受损和被毁的程度。我们知道受灾地是这个州非常重要的地区。我们也知道，现在到处都是洪水。我们听说过也看到过一些房屋被掀起，沿着河流漂走，而这些所谓的河流曾经是农场和围场。我们听说牲畜全部被洪水冲走。有视频显示，牛和马试图对抗这些非常严重的洪水。街道和围场现在已经完全被洪水淹没，洪水甚至涨到了电线所在的位置。

CHANG: Wow.

张：哇哦。

CHUNG: So if you can imagine that, it is a very striking image.

钟：如果你能想象一下，就会知道这是相当惊人的景象。

CHANG: What about people who didn't or weren't able to evacuate and are now stranded? I mean, how are rescue operations going right now?

张：那些没有或没能撤离导致现在被困的人怎么样了？目前救援行动进展如何？

CHUNG: For a lot of people who live in these low-lying plains, floods aren't anything new to them. They've lived with them before. They know how to prepare for them. But there are a lot of people who were just not quite ready for how quickly the water would come up. So we've got thousands of volunteers from the State Emergency Service who are out there along with police and interstate help as well, who are rescuing people in boats. We've also seen helicopters being deployed to try and airlift people out of certain areas. And you know, not only are volunteers having to deal with the really intense flooding conditions. They're also having to deal with the wildlife that's coming their way as well. So there's this story of these volunteers who were rescuing this family, trekking over several kilometers to get to the family. And as they're returning, they got a message over the radio that they have to be aware of snakes. And they reported snakes kind of shimmying up the side of the boat and taking refuge with them just to...

钟：对于很多生活在低洼平原的人来说，洪水对他们来说并不是新鲜事。他们以前经历过。他们知道如何准备。但是有很多人尚未对洪水上涨的速度做好准备。因此，数千名来自国家紧急服务中心的志愿者与警察和州际救援人员一起，在船上救人。我们还看到直升机被派往灾区，试图将人们空运出某些地区。志愿者不仅要应对非常激烈的洪水。他们还要处理即将到来的野生动物。有这样一件事，这些志愿者正在援救某个家庭，他们跋涉了数公里才到达这个家庭。而当他们返回时，无线电里传来消息，让他们小心蛇。他们报告称，蛇在船边摇摆，和他们一起避难只是为了……

CHANG: Oh, goodness.

张：哦，天哪。

CHUNG: ...Get out of that floodwater.

钟：……远离洪水。

CHANG: Well, Laura, we spoke to you back in December 2019 when the bushfires were spreading across the area. And I'm curious — how do you think recovery from that disaster has affected recovery from this disaster? I mean, we're talking about communities that were just starting to rebuild, right?

张：劳拉，我们在2019年12月与你连线过，当时森林大火正在蔓延。我想知道，你认为从那场灾难中恢复对人们从这场灾难中恢复有何影响？我们谈论的是刚刚开始重建的社区，对吧？

CHUNG: Exactly. And they've gone through the bushfires and then — last year — and then immediately after that, there was a first round of floods, and then they were hit by the pandemic and now these floods again. So it's just been crisis after crisis and compounding their loss. Now, one farmer I spoke to had gone through, you know, all these crises. And he said, you know, what the fires didn't take, the floods have taken. And this sentiment has been repeated to me by so many people in that they've already suffered so many losses that this time around, they don't really have anything else to lose. There is this sense of, what next? You know, it's just hit us again and again and again.

钟：没错。他们去年经历了丛林大火，紧接着遭遇了第一轮洪水，之后他们遭到了新冠疫情的袭击，而现在又再次被洪水侵袭。这一次又一次的危机不断加剧他们的损失。我就这些危机采访了一名农民。他说，火灾没有损毁的被洪灾毁了。接受我采访的人中，有很多人都表达了这种情绪，即他们已经遭受了太多损失，这一次，他们真的没有什么可失去的了。人们都在想，接下来呢？我们一次又一次遭受打击。

CHANG: Well, I understand that much of the rain has dissipated now. Can I just ask you, what is it like to finally see some blue skies and some sunshine where you are right now?

张：我知道现在降雨基本已经停止。我能不能问问你，现在终于看到蓝天和阳光是什么感觉？

CHUNG: It is a very welcome sight (laughter) — a very strange sight after about seven days of rain.

钟：这是非常受欢迎的景象（笑），而在经历了连续七天的雨天之后，这也是非常奇怪的景象后。

CHANG: Yeah.

张：好。

CHUNG: But I think the message that we've constantly heard is the danger is not over. For many people, the flood and the cleanup has only just started. And many residents are saying, well, yes, while we've survived the floods, we've got months of trying to get our lives back on track.

钟：但我认为我们经常听到的信息是，危险还没有结束。对许多人来说，洪灾和清理工作才刚刚开始。许多居民表示，是的，虽然我们在洪水中幸存下来，但我们需要数个月时间才能让生活重回正轨。

CHANG: Laura Chung of the Sydney Morning Herald, thank you so much for your reporting. And stay safe.

张：以上是《悉尼先驱晨报》的劳拉·钟带来的报道，非常谢谢你。注意安全。

CHUNG: Thank you for having me.

钟：谢谢你们邀请我。