美国有线新闻 CNN 飓风劳拉逼近美国 或将带来毁灭性破坏（在线收听）

Our first story takes us to the border between Texas and Louisiana because that's where Hurricane Laura was expected to make landfall on Wednesday night. Yesterday afternoon Laura was a strong Category 3 hurricane as it spun through the Gulf.

今天首则新闻来关注得克萨斯州与路易斯安那州州界地区，因为飓风“劳拉”被预计周三晚上在那里登陆。昨天下午，“劳拉”在墨西哥湾盘旋时的强度为三级飓风。

Its sustained wind speeds were 125 miles per hour. But then it got more intense reaching Category 4 status as it approached the U.S. Gulf Coast. A Category 4 hurricane carries wind speeds of at least 130 miles per hour. This makes it capable of causing severe damage to well-built homes, uprooting most of the trees where it makes landfall and flinging them across roadways, and that could knock out electricity for weeks or longer.

其持续风速为每小时125英里。但它在靠近美国墨西哥湾沿岸时，强度增强为四级飓风。四级飓风的风速至少为每小时130英里。这足以对坚固的房屋造成严重破坏，将登陆地的大多数树木连根拔起并使其横亘在道路上，还可能导致电力瘫痪数周甚至数月。

Hurricane Laura was the second storm system to strike the region this week. Tropical Storm Marco made landfall on Monday near the mouth of the Mississippi River but it had weakened enough beforehand that its main threat was heavy rain. This could be worsened considerably by Hurricane Laura.

飓风“劳拉”是本周第二个袭击该地区的风暴系统。热带风暴“马尔科”于周一在密西西比河河口附近登陆，但登陆前强度明显减弱，带来的主要威胁是强降雨。而飓风“劳拉”可能会使情况严重恶化。

It was expected to bring more rain to areas Marco had already soaked. Factor that in with Laura's destructive winds and very dangerous storm surge, a rise in seawater levels blown ashore by an approaching hurricane, and the damage could be catastrophic. Forecasters expect that Laura could cause sea levels to rise 10 to 15 feet higher along the coasts of southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana. The National Hurricane Center said tornadoes were also possible in the region.

预计“劳拉”会给已经被“马尔科”浸透的地区带来更多雨水。重要的是劳拉将带来破坏性大风和极为危险的风暴潮，即逐渐靠近的飓风使海水不断上升，这可能造成毁灭性破坏。天气预报员预计，“劳拉”可能导致得克萨斯州东南部和路易斯安那州西南部沿海地区的海平面上升10到15英尺。美国国家飓风中心表示，这一地区可能还会发生龙卷风。

Mandatory evacuations went into effect some places. This doesn't mean that people were forced to leave their homes. It means that if they chose to stay, despite the order, rescue services wouldn't be available to them if they needed help.

一些地区实施了强制撤离。这并不意味着人们被迫离开自已的家。而是说，如果人们不顾撤离令选择留下，那救援人员可能无法在他们需要帮助时提供救援服务。

The U.S. Gulf Coast isn't the only place to be impacted by Laura. It hit the Caribbean while it was still a tropical storm. Several deaths in the Dominican Republic and Haiti were blamed on this system.

美国墨西哥湾沿岸并不是唯一受到“劳拉”影响的地方。“劳拉”在还是热带风暴时袭击了加勒比海。另外，“劳拉”在多米尼加共和国和海地导致多人死亡。