VOA慢速英语2017 Irma Weakens After Hard Hits on Caribbean, Florida

Irma Weakens After Hard Hits on Caribbean, Florida

Hurricane Irma has weakened to a tropical storm after causing widespread damage on Caribbean islands and the U.S. state of Florida.

飓风艾玛在加勒比海岛以及美国佛罗里达州造成大面积破坏之后，已经减弱为热带风暴。

Irma’s winds eased to about 100 kilometers per hour Monday as the storm continued to move on a northwest path, away from Florida. The ocean storm had been the strongest kind of hurricane – a Category 5 – as it moved through the Caribbean area last week. The storm’s wind speeds were measured near 300 kilometers per hour at one time.

周一飓风艾玛离开佛罗里达州继续向西北方向移动时，其风力已经减弱到大约100公里每小时。上周这场海洋风暴通过加勒比地区时还是最强烈的飓风，风暴强度达到了五级。这场风暴一度测得了近300公里每小时的风速。

Weather officials warn that Irma is expected to keep producing high winds and heavy rain, although it has weakened.

气象官员警告称，虽然风力已经减弱，但是预计艾玛还是会造成狂风暴雨。

Officials in Florida were getting their first look at storm damage in some areas Monday. Irma first hit the islands called the Florida Keys early Sunday, when the storm was at its greatest strength.

周一，佛罗里达州官员首次到部分地区查看风暴损失。艾玛周日早上风力最强的时候先是袭击了佛罗里达群岛。

Later Sunday, the storm struck Tampa and St. Petersburg, the two largest cities around Tampa Bay on Florida’s western coast. A storm surge near those cities caused high ocean waves to flood streets and homes.

周日晚些时候，这场风暴袭击了佛罗里达州西部海岸坦帕湾附近两座最大的城市坦帕市和圣彼得堡市。这些城市附近的风暴潮引发的惊天巨浪造成了街道和住宅被淹。

Severe flooding was reported in many other cities and towns along Florida’s Gulf¹ of Mexico coastline. Flooding also was reported in Jacksonville on Florida’s eastern Atlantic coast. The storm damaged power lines and some building cranes.

佛罗里达州墨西哥湾海岸沿线的许多城镇都报告了严重的水灾。佛罗里达州大西洋东海岸的杰克逊维尔市也报告了水灾。风暴损坏了电力线和一些建筑塔吊。

About 6.5 million homes and businesses remained without power across Florida, and officials said it could be weeks before power is restored in all places. An estimated 220,000 people were staying in shelters.

佛罗里达州各地大约还有650万户居民和企业停电。官员称，恢复所有地区的电力可能还需要数周时间。预计有22万人居住在庇护所。

Florida Governor Rick Scott said on Twitter he was joining members of the U.S. Coast Guard to view damage from Irma in the Florida Keys.

佛罗里达州州长斯科特在推特上表示，他和美国海岸警卫队成员一起查看了佛罗里达群岛在飓风艾玛中的受损情况。

No deaths in Florida were immediately linked to the storm. Before hitting Florida, Irma left at least 34 people dead in several island nations.

佛罗里达州没有发生与风暴密切相关的死亡事件。飓风艾玛在袭击佛罗里达州之前，已经在几个岛国造成了34人死亡。

Ten of those deaths were in Cuba, where severe flooding was reported in several neighborhoods in central Havana. State media reported about 1 million people were evacuated³ from high-risk flood areas.

死者中有10人住在古巴，哈瓦那中部的几个社区报告了严重的水灾。古巴国家媒体报道称，大约有1百万人撤离了高风险的洪灾地区。

In the island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said 95 percent of buildings were either destroyed or severely⁴ damaged.

在安提瓜和巴布达这个岛国，该国总理加斯顿·布朗（Gaston Browne）表示，95%的建筑要么被毁，要么严重受损。

The small French island of St. Barthelemy and the French-Dutch island divided between St. Martin and St. Maarten also were badly damaged. The U.S. Virgin⁵ Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Turks and Caicos also suffered damage.

属于法国的圣巴托勒米岛以及分属法国和荷兰的圣马丁岛也遭受了严重破坏。美属维尔京群岛、波多黎各、多米尼加共和国、海地以及特克斯和凯科斯也遭受了损失。

Officials in the Caribbean area are working to help residents reporting shortages of food, water and medicine.

加勒比地区的官员正在努力帮助上报缺乏食物、水和药品的居民。

In the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, more than one million people were left without power after the storm. The U.S. military deployed⁶ Navy ships and aircraft and hundreds of Marines to help with recovery efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

在美国领地波多黎各，超过1百万人在风暴之后失去了电力供应。美国军方部署了海军舰艇和飞机，以及数百名海军陆战队员帮助波多黎各以及美属维尔京群岛进行恢复重建工作。

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

storm surge – n. rising of the sea level as a result of weather activity during a storm

crane – n. big machine with a long arm used during construction

evacuate² – v. to remove people from a dangerous area

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

3 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 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。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。