2007年VOA标准英语-Hurricanes Henriette, Felix Slam Ashore in Lati

By Brian Wagner
Miami
04 September 2007

Two hurricanes have hit Latin America within the span of a few hours, with Henriette charging ashore¹ on Mexico's Baja California peninsula and Felix slamming into Central America. In Miami, VOA's Brian Wagner reports.

Hurricane Felix makes landfall in northeastern Nicaragua, 04 Sep 2007

Hurricane Felix made landfall as a category five storm, with heavy rainfall and maximum sustained winds of 260 kilometers per hour. Weather forecasters said the storm had weakened after the eye came ashore, and said it would continue to lose strength during the next day or two.

Meteorologist Dennis Feltgen of the National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm will cause heavy rains and possible flooding as it moves over mountainous areas.

"You have all this moisture all this tropical energy which is being released as the hurricane breaks up over the land area," said Feltgen. "So it creates this heavy rain event, where we expect up to two feet [60 centimeters of rain] or even slightly greater amounts in some of the higher terrain² of the mountains."

The hurricane first hit land in remote, swampy³ areas of the Miskito Coast, and moved through villages further inland. Officials in Honduras and Nicaragua moved thousands of residents and tourists into shelters, and evacuated⁵ others from flood-prone areas ahead of the storm.

U.S. military officials said a Chinook helicopter was flown in to evacuate⁴ 19 American citizens from the Honduran island of Roatan on Monday. Military officials say a team has been in Belize since Hurricane Dean hit the area two weeks ago. It is assessing damage from the storm and helping⁶ organize rebuilding efforts.

Hurricane Dean also was rated a category five storm when it came ashore along the border of Mexico and Belize on the Yucatan peninsula. Meteorologist Feltgen said it is the first time two hurricanes of that strength have made landfall in the same season.

"Since our records began in the late 19th century, we have no record of two land-falling category five hurricanes in the same season," he said. "Nor do we have any record of the first two hurricanes of the same season developing into category five hurricanes."

Feltgen says it is impossible to predict if other hurricanes will develop in the Atlantic region in coming months, but he says forecasters expect storm activity this year to be above average.

In the Pacific Ocean, forecasters are tracking Hurricane Henriette which is moving north, near Mexico's western coast.

1 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

2 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

3 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

4 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。

5 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。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。