美国有线新闻 CNN 飓风劳拉逼近美国 或将带来毁灭性破坏

Our first story takes us to the border between Texas and Louisiana because that's where Hurricane Laura was expected to make landfall on Wednesday night. Yesterday afternoon Laura was a strong Category 3 hurricane as it spun¹ through the Gulf².

今天首则新闻来关注得克萨斯州与路易斯安那州州界地区，因为飓风“劳拉”被预计周三晚上在那里登陆。昨天下午，“劳拉”在墨西哥湾盘旋时的强度为三级飓风。

Its sustained wind speeds were 125 miles per hour. But then it got more intense reaching Category 4 status as it approached the U.S. Gulf Coast. A Category 4 hurricane carries wind speeds of at least 130 miles per hour. This makes it capable of causing severe damage to well-built homes, uprooting³ most of the trees where it makes landfall and flinging them across roadways, and that could knock out electricity for weeks or longer.

其持续风速为每小时125英里。但它在靠近美国墨西哥湾沿岸时，强度增强为四级飓风。四级飓风的风速至少为每小时130英里。这足以对坚固的房屋造成严重破坏，将登陆地的大多数树木连根拔起并使其横亘在道路上，还可能导致电力瘫痪数周甚至数月。

Hurricane Laura was the second storm system to strike the region this week. Tropical Storm Marco made landfall on Monday near the mouth of the Mississippi River but it had weakened enough beforehand that its main threat was heavy rain. This could be worsened considerably⁴ by Hurricane Laura.

飓风“劳拉”是本周第二个袭击该地区的风暴系统。热带风暴“马尔科”于周一在密西西比河河口附近登陆，但登陆前强度明显减弱，带来的主要威胁是强降雨。而飓风“劳拉”可能会使情况严重恶化。

It was expected to bring more rain to areas Marco had already soaked. Factor that in with Laura's destructive winds and very dangerous storm surge, a rise in seawater levels blown ashore⁵ by an approaching hurricane, and the damage could be catastrophic. Forecasters expect that Laura could cause sea levels to rise 10 to 15 feet higher along the coasts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center said tornadoes⁶ were also possible in the region.

预计“劳拉”会给已经被“马尔科”浸透的地区带来更多雨水。重要的是劳拉将带来破坏性大风和极为危险的风暴潮，即逐渐靠近的飓风使海水不断上升，这可能造成毁灭性破坏。天气预报员预计，“劳拉”可能导致得克萨斯州东南部和路易斯安那州西南部沿海地区的海平面上升10到15英尺。美国国家飓风中心表示，这一地区可能还会发生龙卷风。

Mandatory⁷ evacuations went into effect some places. This doesn't mean that people were forced to leave their homes. It means that if they chose to stay, despite the order, rescue services wouldn't be available to them if they needed help.

一些地区实施了强制撤离。这并不意味着人们被迫离开自已的家。而是说，如果人们不顾撤离令选择留下，那救援人员可能无法在他们需要帮助时提供救援服务。

The U.S. Gulf Coast isn't the only place to be impacted by Laura. It hit the Caribbean while it was still a tropical storm. Several deaths in the Dominican Republic and Haiti were blamed on this system.

美国墨西哥湾沿岸并不是唯一受到“劳拉”影响的地方。“劳拉”在还是热带风暴时袭击了加勒比海。另外，“劳拉”在多米尼加共和国和海地导致多人死亡。

1 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 uprooting   

n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• He is hard at work uprooting wild grass in the field. 他正在田里辛苦地芟夷呢。 来自互联网
• A storm raged through the village, uprooting trees and flattening crops. 暴风雨袭击了村庄，拔起了树木，吹倒了庄稼。 来自互联网

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 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。

6 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

7 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。