美国国家公共电台 NPR Puerto Rican Island 'Still In Crisis Mode' 3 Months After Maria

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Hurricane Maria wiped out Puerto Rico's electrical grid¹ in September. And as we've been reporting, getting the lights back on has been a slow and uneven² process. On the Puerto Rican island of Vieques, residents face the prospect³ of six more months without reliable electricity. NPR's Merrit Kennedy recently traveled there to see how people are getting by.

MERRIT KENNEDY, BYLINE⁴: La Nasa is the place to be on a Sunday night in Vieques. Couples sway on the dance floor. A bartender pulls beers out of a cooler. The bar is now a rickety patio⁵ next to a giant pile of debris⁶. This place was reduced to rubble⁷ by the hurricane and washed into the sea.

JOSE SILVA: Was a mess. (Laughter) It was a big mess.

KENNEDY: That's Jose Silva, the owner, standing⁸ on the sand. He says that after the hurricane, he scavenged wood to reconstruct the small bar and reopened within a week.

SILVA: You know, people, they were so stressed out. You know, they were so sad. They just want to come and cry. I was trying to make people feel like, you know, you can do it.

KENNEDY: The storm cut Vieques off from Puerto Rico's main grid. A generator⁹-powered speaker blasts a new holiday song with a gift request. It goes, I'm asking the three kings to bring a new generator that works.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KENNEDY: That message resonates here.

CARLOS PEREZ: (Speaking Spanish).

KENNEDY: Carlos Perez is the operator of the island's troubled main generator. On this morning, red lights flash on the control board. It took months to get it up and running at all. Now, it's still riddled¹⁰ with problems.

PEREZ: (Speaking Spanish).

KENNEDY: Perez works for Puerto Rico's electric utility. He says the generator is meant to be a backup when the connection to the main grid is down.

PEREZ: (Speaking Spanish).

KENNEDY: Perez provides a litany of causes for this generator's problems, like difficulty obtaining spare parts and fuel and downed power lines. Haronid Cruz Felix, the animated¹¹ spokesman for the mayor, says there's a more basic truth here.

HARONID CRUZ FELIX: (Through interpreter) You can ask any resident of Vieques, and they will tell you that that generator doesn't work, that it's a piece of junk.

KENNEDY: "The electricity company, the Puerto Rican government and the federal government all share responsibility for the plight¹² of Vieques," he says.

CRUZ FELIX: (Speaking Spanish).

KENNEDY: Vieques was used for decades as a training ground for the U.S. military, including bombing exercises, a fact that Felix believes obligates the federal government to provide more effective assistance. The island didn't have regular running water for nearly a month, he says, until generators¹³ were secured specifically to operate the pump. And cell service is also sparse¹⁴. That makes it nearly impossible to run a business, says Gladys Aleman, the co-owner of an ecotourism company here.

GLADYS ALEMAN: I think it's just ludicrous that, in this day and age, we don't have communications, and we still don't have electricity.

KENNEDY: The vulnerability of Vieques is starkest¹⁵ at the island's hospital. The main building of the hospital was damaged by the storm and now home to a dangerous amount of mold.

JOSE CARRASQUILLO: That - that's for a monitor, to some monitors, and...

KENNEDY: There's a makeshift clinic in the hospital's parking lot. Dr. Jose Carrasquillo is giving us a tour of its military-style tents.

CARRASQUILLO: I consider this camping. (Laughter)

KENNEDY: Carrasquillo makes do with what he has. To demonstrate how he sutures in the dimly lit tents, he pulls out a small flashlight and holds it between his teeth.

CARRASQUILLO: I have to bring a flashlight and hold it with my mouth, (laughter) improvise¹⁶, because a patient needs it.

KENNEDY: The doctor operates without equipment that would be standard in most hospitals. And transporting patients with more serious injuries isn't always possible.

CARRASQUILLO: If the weather is bad, no one gets out of here. That means I'm going to have to treat anything that comes here. That's a challenge.

KENNEDY: The precariousness¹⁷ of the facility scares him. The doctor fears the tents won't last long against the elements. And it's only six months until hurricane season starts again. Merrit Kennedy, NPR News, Vieques, Puerto Rico.

(SOUNDBITE OF JAM DA SILVA'S "BEM TRANQUILO")

1 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。

2 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 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。

5 patio   

n.庭院，平台

参考例句：

• Suddenly, the thought of my beautiful patio came to mind. I can be quiet out there,I thought.我又忽然想到家里漂亮的院子，我能够在这里宁静地呆会。
• They had a barbecue on their patio on Sunday.星期天他们在院子里进行烧烤。

6 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

10 riddled   

adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式)

参考例句：

• The beams are riddled with woodworm. 这些木梁被蛀虫蛀得都是洞。
• The bodies of the hostages were found riddled with bullets. 在人质的尸体上发现了很多弹孔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

12 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

13 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。

15 starkest   

（指区别）明显的( stark的最高级 )； 完全的； 了无修饰的； 僵硬的

参考例句：

• Among the starkest-and the most worrying-have been measures of world trade. 而最典型也是最让人担心的是世界贸易的方式。
• Climate change and the depleted ozone layer are among the starkest examples. 气候变化和臭氧层耗减就是其中最明显的例子。

16 improvise   

v.即兴创作；临时准备，临时凑成

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words，he has to improvise.演员要是忘记台词，那就只好即兴现编。
• As we've not got the proper materials,we'll just have to improvise.我们没有弄到合适的材料，只好临时凑合了。

17 precariousness   

参考例句：

• The precariousness is further increased by self-experiences in the aforementioned marginal situation. 在上述边际情况下自身经验会更进一步增加这种不确定感。 来自互联网
• These reports have revealed to the insurgents the precariousness of their position. 这些报导使叛乱士兵知道了他们的危险境地。 来自互联网