NBC晚间新闻 佛罗里达发生地陷，无人员伤亡

Florida sinkhole survivor¹: ‘I’m still in shock’

佛罗里达沉陷幸存者：“还是很怕”

Rescue teams evacuated³ guests from a resort in Clermont, Fla., before the building sunk into the ground. Geologists⁴ aren’t able to predict when a sinkhole will occur, but they do know what causes them to appear. NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports.

营救队从佛罗里达州克莱蒙特的一处度假胜地解救客人，酒店即将塌陷。地理学家不能预测何时发生塌陷，但是他们知道造成塌陷的原因。NBC的Kerry Sanders报道。

Good evening, I'm Lester holt sitting in tonight for Brian. What an incredibly close call in a resort near disney world when the ground literally⁵ opened up beneath them as many slept. What it looks like from above the scene now in Clermont, Florida , where a massive sink hole opened up overnight clapsing much of the resort structure. More than 100 people were forced to evacuate². Some under harrowing conditions, remarkably⁶ no one was killed. NBC's Kerry Sanders is there with late details. Kerry, I assume you're on firm ground right now, but how big a danger area at risk is there?

reporter: Well, good evening, Lester. They've moved up three city blocks fearing the sinkhole would continue to grow. The problem actually begins about 20 to 100 feet down where there's limestone⁷. Rainwater goes through the earth and hit that limestone and it can cause it to dissolve. That is a recipe for disaster.

We need to know what room everybody was in.

reporter: It was shortly after 3:00 in the morning, Maggie Gammery started her camera phone during the chaos⁸. She says it came without warning while on vacation here with family and friends from Virginia. She heard a single window pop its frame, then another and another. At first she thought it was someone in a fight.

Things flying, like glass flying. People jumping out of windows, luggage flying out of windows, people trying to salvage⁹ what they could.

To me, it sounded like popcorn¹⁰ popping. porti pop, pop, pop.

reporter: A security guard on patrol then began to run from unit to unit in all evacuating¹¹ 105 tourists here on vacation.

There were people sleeping. I literally had to wake them up and tell them get out of the building.

reporter: Why do sinkholes occur? in Florida, the state sandy soil sits on top of clay, and that is all supported on a layer of limestone. Limestone is like a strainer. The water migrates down and it hits Florida's underground rivers, but when there is too much rain or a drought it can create a void like a balloon with air. As that void gets bigger, the earth on top becomes too heavy, and the balloon pops, causing a catastrophic event--a sinkhole.

Geologists say they know when conditions are ripe for a sinkhole, but like an earthquake, they cannot predict when or where one will open up.

The open sinkholes may open other sink holes .

reporter: Trigger them?

Yes, it's possible. Because these are connected underground, again, by the same limestone cavity and cave structures.

reporter: 20% of the nation is susceptible¹². other likely locations for sinkholes, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Utah. In Florida in March, a sinkhole 30 feet wide and 50 feet deep opened up swallowing 36-year-old Jeff Bush from his bedroom. His body was never recovered. Here in Clermont, Florida, 15 hours later, survivors¹³ are still anxious.

I'm still in shock and I'm just very, very thankful.

reporter: Lester, the sinkhole right now is about 100 feet wide about 15 feet deep they guess as looking down there. The likelihood of something like this is being struck by lightning, which, as we know, can also happen.

We've seen them before, Kerry. It's sounds like a bit of a guessy game. What can home owners do, what they know about moving into a neighborhood, whether there is a risk?

reporter: Well, they can actually get a geological survey using ground penetrating¹⁴ radar¹⁵ to look down there. But this is a situation that's constantly changing depending on the rain situation. So you can find those bubbles, but even the bubbles don't necessarily tell you that there is going to be a catastrophic collapse¹⁶. One thing everybody needs, sinkhole insurance.

Alright, Kerry Sanders tonight, thanks.

1 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

2 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

3 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

4 geologists   

地质学家，地质学者( geologist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Geologists uncovered the hidden riches. 地质学家发现了地下的宝藏。
• Geologists study the structure of the rocks. 地质学家研究岩石结构。

5 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。

6 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

7 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

8 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

9 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

10 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

11 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

12 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

13 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

14 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

15 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

16 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。