VOA慢速英语2019 加州野火威胁居民心理健康（在线收听）

Mental Health at Risk as California Wildfire Threat Grows

Tasha Ritza lost her house, her job and her hometown on the day that a wildfire destroyed Paradise, California. A year later, life is still hard, she said.

一场野火将加利福尼亚州的天堂镇付之一炬，这一天塔莎·丽莎（Tasha Ritza）失去了房子、工作和家乡。她说，时隔一年，她的生活依然艰辛。

"I'm at a loss. I deal with a lot of anxiety. I can't figure out if I want to stay, if I want to go," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "I haven't worked in a year.

她告诉汤森路透基金会：“我不知所措，我十分焦虑。我不知道自己应该留下还是离开。” “我已经一年没有工作了。”

"In a day it was all taken from me, and it's not getting any easier," said Ritza. She ran a kitchen in one of the Paradise public schools before the fire. She has since moved to the nearby city of Chico.

里扎说：“一天内，我的一切都被夺走了，而且生活难以为继。”火灾发生前，她在天堂镇一所公立学校里经营了一个餐厅。大火之后，她搬到了附近的奇科市。

California communities like Paradise are haunted by wildfire losses and new fire threats. The damage goes beyond the physical. Anxiety, depression and other mental health disorders are spreading.

天堂镇等加州社区深受野火损失和新火灾威胁的困扰。这种伤害不仅仅是生理上的。 焦虑、抑郁和其他精神疾病正在蔓延。

"This whole county has PTSD, depression," said Michele Evans, a young mother who worked at a dance school in Paradise before the fire.

年轻的母亲米歇尔·埃文斯说：“整个县都患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD），大家情绪低落。”埃文斯在火灾发生前曾在天堂镇的一所舞蹈学校工作。

The wildfire that burned through the northern California town in November 2018 was the deadliest in state history. It killed 85 people.

2018年11月，加州北部城镇发生了该州史上最严重的火灾，导致85人遇难。

Terrified townspeople fled burning homes and left their cars on blocked streets. They ran through fire on the main roadway to escape the mountain town.

惊慌失措的城镇居民逃离了被烧毁的房屋，将汽车遗弃在堵塞的街道上。他们在着火的主干道路中穿行逃离了山区小镇。

Today only 10 percent of the 27,000 people who once lived in Paradise remain. The fire destroyed almost 18,800 structures -- more than half of them homes.

如今，曾经在天堂镇生活的2.7万居民中只有10％留了下来。大火摧毁了将近1.88万处建筑物，其中超半数为住宅。

Some people moved to the nearby mountain community of Magalia. Others went to nearby cities such as Chico and Sacramento. But many went much farther.

一些人搬到了附近的Magalia社区。其他人去了附近的城市，如奇科和萨克拉门托。但许多人走得更远。

California has long suffered seasonal wildfires. Scientists say longer dry seasons and more powerful winds are making the fires much more destructive.

加州长期遭受季节性野火。科学家表示，更长的旱季和更强的风使得火灾更具破坏性。

Anxiety, depression

焦虑和抑郁

Rebecca Schmidt is a researcher at the University of California, Davis. She studies mental health among pregnant women during wildfires.

丽贝卡·施密特（Rebecca Schmidt）是加州大学戴维斯分校的研究员。她在野火期间研究孕妇的心理健康状况。

"The most commonly reported symptom even a year later was stress and anxiety," she said. That included sleeplessness, pain, difficulty doing mental tasks and depression.

她说：“即使一年后，最常见的症状还是压力和焦虑。”其中包括失眠、疼痛、精神任务困难和抑郁。

"It's even more worrisome when communities are disrupted, like Paradise. A lot of them lost their support system," she said.

她说：“当社区遭到破坏时，尤其令人担忧的是，如天堂镇。许多人失去了支持系统。”

The losses can affect a person's mental health for a long time, she added.

她补充说，这些损失会长时间影响一个人的心理健康。

"The feeling of not being safe affects the mental health of people all around, and it's a long-term thing," she said.

她说：“不安全的感觉会影响周围人们的心理健康，这是一个长期的困扰。”

In Sonoma County, the Kincade fire burned almost 32,400 hectares this month. Officials there may call a vote on a proposed sales tax increase to pay for mental health services.

在索诺玛县，本月Kincade大火烧毁了近3.24万公顷的土地。当地官员就拟议的增加销售税来为心理健康服务付费进行投票。

County officials also recently declared a climate emergency in an effort to make climate risks a top issue in deciding policy.

县政府官员最近还宣布进入气候紧急状态，试图让气候风险成为决定政策中的首要问题。

One way to ease the mental effects of a disaster is to have survivors help other survivors, said Janet Leisen. Her home in the northern California city of Santa Rosa burned in a 2017 wildfire.

珍妮特·雷森（Janet Leisen）说，减轻灾难心理影响的一种方法是让幸存者帮助其他幸存者。她位于加州北部城市圣罗莎的家在2017年的一场野火中被烧毁。

During the Kincade fire, she and other Santa Rosa locals who lost homes traveled to Healdsburg, a city in Sonoma County. The Santa Rosa group worked with a local assistance center, offering support and advice on recovering and rebuilding.

在Kincade大火期间，她和其他失去家园的圣罗莎当地人前往索诺玛县的城市希尔兹堡。 圣罗莎小组与当地援助中心合作，为恢复和重建提供支持和建议。

"As a victim, we know that it's difficult to talk to people who haven't been there," Liesen said.

“作为一名受害者，我们知道很难与没有去过那里的人交谈，”利森说。

Jessie Mercer is an art therapist who lived in Paradise. She said her sadness helped her create a "Phoenix" sculpture, built from the keys of burned homes.

杰西·默瑟（Jessie Mercer）是一位生活在天堂镇的艺术治疗师。她说，她的悲伤境遇帮助她创造出一个“凤凰”雕塑，用烧毁的房屋的钥匙筑造而成。

The sculpture was presented at a gathering in Paradise earlier this month to mark the one-year anniversary of the fire.

本月早些时候，这座雕塑在纪念火灾一周年的天堂镇集会上展出。

At the event, Mercer said, "I brought us home, even if just for today."

在活动中，默瑟表示，“即使只有今天，我也想带我们回家。”

Words in This Story

anxiety - n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

figure out - phrasal v. to understand or find (something, such as a reason or a solution) by thinking

haunt - v. to keep coming back to the mind of (someone) especially in a way that makes the person sad or upset

symptom - n. a change in the body or mind which indicates that a disease is present

stress - n. a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.

disrupt - v. to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way

therapist - n. a person trained in methods of treating illnesses especially without the use of drugs or surgery

sculpture - n. a piece of art that is made by carving or molding clay, stone, metal, etc.