Deadly tornado causes damage across New Orleans Metro area

Deadly tornado¹ causes damage across New Orleans Metro² area

　　Transcript³

　　A tornado touched down in the New Orleans' Lower Ninth and Arabi Tuesday night causing widespread damage and at least one death.

　　STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

　　A tornado touched down in New Orleans last night, causing widespread destruction and at least one death. Aubri Juhasz reports from our member station WWNO.

　　AUBRI JUHASZ, BYLINE⁴: The tornado caused the greatest damage in St. Bernard Parish, right across the line from New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward⁵. Roofs in the historic Arabi area were sheared⁶ off and utility poles toppled, plunging⁷ the area into complete darkness. Officials said the tornado touched down and traveled the length of the neighborhood from river to levee. At least several homes collapsed⁸. Kina Bullock surveyed the damage to her restaurant.

　　KINA BULLOCK: It blew out the front door. There's some concrete damage on the inside, lots of glass on the inside, stuff blown around. But, you know, everybody's OK. That's the important thing.

　　JUHASZ: Nearby, a group of men screwed sheets of plywood over damaged door frames.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF DRILL)

　　JUHASZ: Across the street, what had been an antique store and a church was reduced to rubble⁹. Power lines hung dangerously in the street above pools of water slick with oil. Flashlights dotted every street as people emerged from their homes. Among them, Emmett Dupas.

　　EMMETT DUPAS: It's just absolute devastation¹⁰. I was born in Arabi and lived here during Katrina, and it was just an absolute mess. And this is kind of a lot of what I saw during Katrina. But thank goodness most of my neighbors, the people I've lived across the street from for years - everybody's safe.

　　JUHASZ: Arabi was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina more than a decade ago. And while Dupas says he's certain his community will come back strong, the uncertainty¹¹ of each new disaster is still unnerving.

　　DUPAS: You know, the lawnmower bag's still in the backyard on the ground, but the AC unit's flipped¹² over. You know, the plastic table, like, six feet away is not even removed. It's just some of the crazy stuff that's gone on. So it's just, you know, Mother Nature, right?

　　JUHASZ: A more thorough assessment¹³ of the tornado's impact is expected this morning after rescue workers finish searching the debris¹⁴.

　　For NPR News, I'm Aubri Juhasz in New Orleans.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF LIBRARY TAPES' "WENNGREN: FEATHERS (SOLO PIANO VERSION)")

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

6 sheared   

v.剪羊毛( shear的过去式和过去分词 )；切断；剪切

参考例句：

• A jet plane sheared the blue sky. 一架喷气式飞机划破蓝空。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The pedal had sheared off at the pivot. 踏板在枢轴处断裂了。 来自辞典例句

7 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

9 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

10 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

12 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

13 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

14 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。