美国有线新闻 CNN 26年来最强飓风迈克尔登陆美国 佛罗里达州一片惨象

 

In recorded history, the Southeastern U.S. state of Florida has taken more direct hits from hurricanes than any other state. Wednesday afternoon it recorded another from Hurricane Michael. The storm blew ashore¹ at about 1:30 p.m. making landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida. At that time, Michael was officially a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained wind speeds of 155 miles per hour.

Anything over 156 miles per hour is a Category 5 storm, the most powerful classification of hurricane i?n terms of wind speed. Michael's the strongest hurricane ever to strike this part of Florida, the panhandle. The area that extends over the northeastern Gulf² of Mexico. And it's the strongest storm to hit the continental³ U.S. since Hurricane Andrew struck Florida in 1992.

Some of the first pictures from Apalachicola and Mexico Beach showed scenes of total destruction. A councilwoman from Mexico Beach said the storm was like a nightmare. At first, forecasters estimated Hurricane Michael would make landfall as a Category 2 hurricane. Then it strengthened to a Category 3. By the time it came ashore, it was a Category 4 strength. Why does that matter? These categories on the Saffir-Simpson Scale denote the wind speeds that hurricanes carry.

The higher the category, the higher the wind speed, the more destructive a hurricane could be. Category 4 and 5 storms bring winds of more than 130 miles per hour. They're capable of ripping off roofs, knocking down walls, uprooting⁴ trees and making an area uninhabitable for months. One thing that distinguished⁵ Hurricane Michael was how quickly it formed and how rapidly it intensified⁶.

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 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。

3 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

4 uprooting   

n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• He is hard at work uprooting wild grass in the field. 他正在田里辛苦地芟夷呢。 来自互联网
• A storm raged through the village, uprooting trees and flattening crops. 暴风雨袭击了村庄，拔起了树木，吹倒了庄稼。 来自互联网

5 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

6 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》