'Superstorm' Sandy Batters US East Coast

'Superstorm' Sandy Batters¹ US East Coast

 Hurricane Sandy, now downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone², has made landfall on the U.S. East Coast, putting some 50 million people in the path of torrential rain, high winds and dangerous tidal surges from one of the biggest storms to hit the region in years.

Sandy came ashore³ on the coast of New Jersey⁴ Monday, about 10 kilometers south of Atlantic City, some 200 kilometers south of New York City, bringing storm surges of nearly three meters to lower Manhattan.

Major U.S. cities along the Eastern seaboard are at a standstill, with public transit⁵ systems suspended, airports closed and millions of people forced to stay home from work.  New York's main utility has cut electricity to lower Manhattan in an effort to stave off damage to the subway system.

Forecasters say the storm is 65 kilometers south of Atlantic City, New Jersey, about 200 kilometers south of New York City, and traveling westward⁶ at 44 kilometers per hour.

President Barack Obama canceled election campaign events to monitor the storm from the White House.  He urged those in the storm's path to heed⁷ warnings about the dangerous nature of it.

"The most important message that I have for the public right now is please listen to what your state and local officials are saying.  When they tell you to evacuate⁸, you need to evacuate.  Do not delay, don't pause, don't question the instructions that are being given because this is a serious storm and it could potentially have fatal consequences if people haven't acted quickly," he said.

Authorities in nine U.S. states and Washington, D.C. declared states of emergency, as the storm has already knocked out power to 1.5 million people on the U.S. east coast.   U.S. federal government offices were closed Monday and will remain so on Tuesday.

U.S. Coast Guard helicopters rescued 15 crew members who abandoned a tall ship after it started to take on water off the coast of the state of North Carolina.  The Coast Guard says it is searching for one other crew member who is missing from the HMS Bounty¹⁰.  The replica¹¹ of an 18th century ship was featured in the 1962 film "Mutiny on the Bounty."

Forecasters said Sandy was expected to merge⁹ with a cold weather system, transforming it into a "super storm" before it makes landfall.  New York authorities ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people from low-lying parts of the city, whose major stock markets were closed in their first unplanned shutdown since the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks.

Officials said people who refuse to evacuate and later need to be rescued would be putting the lives of emergency workers at risk.

Sandy killed at least 65 people in the Caribbean last week before it moved toward the United States.

1 batters   

n.面糊（煎料）( batter的名词复数 )；面糊（用于做糕饼）；（ 棒球） 正在击球的球员；击球员v.连续猛击( batter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pitcher has beaned as many as three batters in this game. 在这？热？投手投球竟打中了三个击手的头。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A storm batters the ship. 一场风暴袭击了这条船。 来自辞典例句

2 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

3 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。

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

6 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

7 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

8 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。

9 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

10 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

11 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。