美国国家公共电台 NPR After Tornado, Families In New Orleans Begin Rebuilding Once Again

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

In New Orleans, hundreds of families are trying to put their lives back together after a devastating¹ tornado² earlier this week. The tornado tore up homes and businesses in New Orleans East, a predominantly black neighborhood that was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Tegan Wendland at member station WWNO reports.

TEGAN WENDLAND, BYLINE³: Aretha Conley and her husband saved for years to buy their little house on Read Boulevard. They each worked two jobs, and they took out loans. Her favorite place in her little single-story home is the backyard.

ARETHA CONLEY: I love to barbecue. I love to give parties.

WENDLAND: But she's tired today. The backyard is decimated. Tuesday's tornado smashed down her fence, and pieces of her neighbor's house are stuck in a tree. Half of her roof is gone, the windows busted⁴ out. She's thankful no one died. As cleanup workers drive loaders through the streets scooping⁵ up debris⁶ and downed trees, she takes stock of the damage.

CONLEY: Got up Tuesday, bring my granddaughter to school, going to work, thinking everything's going to be OK and come home to this.

WENDLAND: When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, her house took 4 feet of water. She and her husband fixed⁷ it up and stayed put. They loved the neighborhood. There are a lot of people like her here. It's working-class and about 95 percent black. And that's something State Senator Wesley Bishop⁸ is proud of. He was at an emergency shelter where victims are sleeping on cots, picking up hot meals, water and cleaning supplies.

WESLEY BISHOP: Basically our black middle class, you'll find a lot of folks concentrated in New Orleans East - so mostly homeowners, things along those lines who just worked extremely hard.

WENDLAND: But life changed after Katrina, and a lot of people moved away and never came back. And many businesses in this part of town never reopened. And that makes life hard for people like Conley.

CONLEY: Like the weekend, I want to go out to eat. Me and my husband, we have to travel, you know, so far to go to eat because there's nothing out here.

WENDLAND: There's a Wal-Mart and some strip malls but not much else. And Bishop resents that.

BISHOP: People shouldn't have to go outside of this area to try to get the basic goods and services that they need.

WENDLAND: He's worried now after the tornado because he says his district didn't get enough help from the government following Katrina. They got a few nice things, like help rebuilding schools and this big beautiful sports and recreation facility now overflowing⁹ with displaced families put to use as an emergency relief center. Conley is staying with her daughter for now. They're all hoping it'll be declared a federal disaster.

CONLEY: I hope it's better this time. I hope it's real better.

WENDLAND: And she hopes this time it's different, that this time, New Orleans East gets the long-term help it needs. For NPR News, I'm Tegan Wendland.

1 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。

2 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

3 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。

4 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

5 scooping   

n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• Heated ice cream scoop is used for scooping really cold ice cream. 加热的冰淇淋勺是用来舀非常凉的冰淇淋的。 来自互联网
• The scoop-up was the key phase during a scooping cycle. 3个区间中，铲取区间是整个作业循环的关键。 来自互联网

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 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

9 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。