美国有线新闻 CNN 飓风哈维重创美得克萨斯州 休斯敦内涝严重

 

The U.S. state of Texas is reeling from Hurricane Harvey. Late last week, the storm strengthened much more and much faster than meteorologists originally expected. And it made landfall Friday night just north of the city of Corpus Christi.

Harvey was a category four storm when it came ashore¹. With maximum sustained winds of at least 130 miles per hour, it spawned² off tornadoes³ and soaked parts of the state with rain.

Though Harvey lost strength once it was over land and was expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression last night, the drenching⁴ storm was moving slowly and the National Hurricane Center said catastrophic and life threatening floods were possible.

At least two deaths have been blamed on the storm. Entire neighborhoods have been flooded. Police told people who are trapped in their homes to take axes with them if they planned to climb up to their attics⁵, so they could chop through their roofs to flag down rescue workers.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency expects the recovery effort in Houston to take years. The city is the fourth largest in the U.S. and it's been flooded repeatedly in the past. And though it's located around 170 miles from where Harvey made landfall, the storm's rain and wind are expected to last the city throughout much of the week.

Every freeway in and out of Houston was underwater yesterday. Three thousand members of the Texas National Guard had been activated⁶. Help, rescuers and equipment are coming in from across the country.

1 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

2 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

3 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

4 drenching   

n.湿透v.使湿透( drench的现在分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体）

参考例句：

• A black cloudburst was drenching Siena at midday. 中午，一场天昏地暗的暴风雨在锡耶纳上空倒下来。 来自辞典例句
• A drenching rain poured down and the rising hurricane drove it in sheets along the ground. 一阵倾盆大雨泼下来了，越来越大的狂风把它顺着地面刮成了一片一片的雨幕。 来自辞典例句

5 attics   

n. 阁楼

参考例句：

• They leave unwanted objects in drawers, cupboards and attics. 他们把暂时不需要的东西放在抽屉里、壁橱中和搁楼上。
• He rummaged busily in the attics of European literature, bringing to light much of interest. 他在欧洲文学的阁楼里忙着翻箱倒笼，找到了不少有趣的东西。

6 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。