美国国家公共电台 NPR 'All Is Not Lost': These Experts Help Save Hurricane-Soaked Heirlooms

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Back to a more trying time, Hurricane Harvey, which caused catastrophic flooding in Houston back in August. Now, people often try to console survivors¹ of something like that by saying the damage was to things and things can be replaced, but what about things that can't be like a family Bible or a photo album or a quilt? Allison Lee of Houston Public Media tells us about a small government team trying to help.

ALLISON LEE, BYLINE²: Experts from agencies like FEMA and the Small Business Administration are at tables inside a former Goodwill³ store in Beaumont, Texas - so is Teddy Reeves.

TEDDY REEVES: You fan out the pages. Now when you fan out the pages, you notice they get a little wrinkled.

LEE: He's normally a curator at the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in D.C., but here, he's part of the joint⁴ Smithsonian and FEMA Heritage Emergency National Task Force.

REEVES: You know when you're picking up paper, it can rip when it's wet.

REBECCA COLLINS: Yeah, it sure does.

LEE: He's showing nurse Rebecca Collins how to salvage⁵ water-damaged family photos by using an aluminum⁶ foil turkey pan, a paintbrush and distilled⁷ water.

REEVES: Gently wipe the book. Wipe the book in the pan.

LEE: Collins is wearing her scrubs and stopped by the recovery center for assistance before going back to work at the hospital. Along with photos, she wants to save her academic materials.

COLLINS: Pictures and like documents, also like certificates, you know, like your diploma, you know. And then, of course, I want my nursing books because it's very important.

LEE: This program was launched last year in the wake of the devastating⁸ flooding in Louisiana. Experts were also sent to South Carolina following Hurricane Matthew.

REEVES: We want to say, you know, we can salvage your grandmother's quilt. We can help you salvage these photos of your high school graduation, your high school diploma. You know, we have someone that came in with a generational Bible that was passed down in their family. We can help you salvage these things.

LEE: If you kept them. Diane Tinsley didn't know they could be salvaged⁹.

DIANE TINSLEY: When I went over there to wait for the line, I started crying thinking of all the pictures that I had just thrown in the trash.

LEE: She says she also threw away her thick family Bible and most of her 357 record albums.

TINSLEY: I should have researched it, but at the time, you're not thinking. I mean, I walked around in a daze¹⁰. You know, you're just not thinking. You want that out of your house, and so you just start throwing everything away.

LEE: Today, she's asking Laura Manaker, normally at the National Portrait Gallery in D.C., how to save her flood-damaged collectible prints.

TINSLEY: They all are stuck together. You know, there was probably about 35, 40 prints maybe.

LEE: For some items, it may be a relatively¹¹ simple fix.

LAURA MANAKER: If you want to kind of keep them from curling, you could maybe put just like small weights just on the corners.

TINSLEY: OK.

LEE: For other things, Manaker says it might be more trouble than it's worth.

MANAKER: There are things that, you know, you might not be able to save, but we are trying to let people know that all is not lost. You don't have to throw out, you know, everything.

LEE: FEMA and the Smithsonian say they're considering sending teams to Florida, Puerto Rico and the Virgin¹² Islands, but so far, the logistics are too complicated. Right now, people in Puerto Rico are dealing¹³ with getting their basic needs met. For NPR News, I'm Allison Lee in Beaumont, Texas.

(SOUNDBITE OF JIM VANCLEVE'S "FALL CREEK FALLS")

1 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

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 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。

6 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

7 distilled   

adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• The televised interview was distilled from 16 hours of film. 那次电视采访是从16个小时的影片中选出的精华。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gasoline is distilled from crude oil. 汽油是从原油中提炼出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 salvaged   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的过去式和过去分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• The investigators studied flight recorders salvaged from the wreckage. 调查者研究了从飞机残骸中找到的黑匣子。
• The team's first task was to decide what equipment could be salvaged. 该队的首要任务是决定可以抢救哪些设备。

10 daze   

v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏

参考例句：

• The blow on the head dazed him for a moment.他头上受了一击后就昏眩了片刻。
• I like dazing to sit in the cafe by myself on Sunday.星期日爱独坐人少的咖啡室发呆。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。