美国国家公共电台 NPR--Major storm causes multiple problems including many deaths in and around Buffalo

Major storm causes multiple problems including many deaths in and around Buffalo¹

Transcript²

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Byron Brown, mayor of Buffalo, N.Y., about the blizzard³ that has paralyzed his city and caused many deaths. Power is out and there's no heat.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

More than 30 people have died because of the winter storm that has knocked out power and stranded⁴ travelers across most of the United States. And many of those deaths are concentrated in or near Buffalo, N.Y. The mayor of Buffalo is Byron Brown, and he's on the line. Mayor, welcome to the program.

BYRON BROWN: It's good to be with you. Thank you very much.

INSKEEP: How is your city doing now that we're on the back end, it would seem, of this storm?

BROWN: The city is tough, resilient. We continue to focus on life safety, getting to stranded motorists that are stranded in their vehicles, emergency medical service calls at homes and working with our power company, National Grid⁵, to assist them in getting to power stations to restore power to homes. There are people that have been without power since Friday. Temperatures have dipped to, in some cases, -22 degrees below zero with the wind chill. We've been able to help National Grid cut the power outages of Buffalo in half. At one time, over 20,000 people without power in the city of Buffalo. That number is now below 10,000. And we will continue to work aggressively and strategically with National Grid all day today to continue to reduce that number and get everyone's power restored.

INSKEEP: Mayor Brown, you mentioned motorists stranded in their vehicles. We are a few days into this. Is it your impression there may be people out there who've been stuck in their cars for days?

BROWN: Don't know the answer to that. We are going by car by car. We know that some vehicles have been abandoned. We have literally⁶ since Friday rescued over several hundred people in a variety of different circumstances. Police, fire, our plow⁷ drivers continue that work. In some cases because of impassable streets, we've had to set up strike teams working with plows⁸ to get to stranded vehicles to check them, to see if people are inside and then get those vehicles towed so that our lifesaving operations and street plowing⁹ operations can continue.

INSKEEP: How soon do you think the city might be back to normal?

BROWN: You know, this has been called a generational storm, a once-in-a-generation storm.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

BROWN: Sustained blizzard conditions for days, blowing and drifting snow - in some cases, over 48 inches of snow that has fallen, trees and power lines, poles that have come down. We're hoping to get back to normalcy this week. But this has been a very devastating¹⁰ and difficult storm, unlike anything that even the city of Buffalo is used to getting.

INSKEEP: I guess the airport is not even open yet, is it?

BROWN: The airport is not open. The airport will not open today. So people who are traveling out of and traveling to Buffalo will not be able to get out of Buffalo International Airport today.

INSKEEP: Byron Brown is the mayor of Buffalo, N.Y. Mayor, good luck to you and your city in the days ahead.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

1 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

4 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

5 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 plow   

n.犁，耕地，犁过的地；v.犁，费力地前进[英]plough

参考例句：

• At this time of the year farmers plow their fields.每年这个时候农民们都在耕地。
• We will plow the field soon after the last frost.最后一场霜过后，我们将马上耕田。

8 plows   

n.犁( plow的名词复数 )；犁型铲雪机v.耕( plow的第三人称单数 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• Alex and Tony were turning awkward hands to plows and hoe handles. 亚历克斯和托尼在犁耙等农活方面都几乎变成新手了。
• Plows are still pulled by oxen in some countries. 在一些国家犁头仍由牛拖拉。

9 plowing   

v.耕( plow的现在分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• "There are things more important now than plowing, Sugar. "如今有比耕种更重要的事情要做呀，宝贝儿。 来自飘（部分）
• Since his wife's death, he has been plowing a lonely furrow. 从他妻子死后，他一直过着孤独的生活。 来自辞典例句

10 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。