美国国家公共电台 NPR--Cleanup on Puerto Rico is slow and difficult after Hurricane Fiona

Cleanup on Puerto Rico is slow and difficult after Hurricane Fiona

Transcript¹

TOA BAJA, Puerto Rico — In this area just west of San Juan, the cleanup from Hurricane Fiona is well underway.

Five years, ago this part of town flooded badly when Hurricane Maria hit and it got swamped again by Fiona. The floodwaters have receded² in most neighborhoods. People were dragging water-logged sofas, mattresses³ and other goods out to the street. City workers were using heavy equipment and dump trucks to collect the sloppy⁴ mess.

Yesenio Nazario was part of a crew going house-to-house, assessing the damage. The social worker was also handing out water and offering other services. In this area she says, the first floor of every house was flooded. She points down the street. "The La Plata river is right behind the Catholic Church. As soon as the river rises, it always floods here."

Not far away, Christy Torres Melendez and some friends were sweeping⁵ the mud out of her nutrition shop. "After Hurricane Maria, no one really wanted this building, "she says. "It was absolutely destroyed. I got it and I was still fixing it up when Hurricane Fiona arrived. But you see what happened."

In a nearby neighborhood, Toaville, several inches of floodwater were still in the streets two days after Fiona passed through. Electricity and running water are still out here and some residents are discouraged.

Gilbert Hernandez is a Navy veteran who says he fought for months with his insurance company to recover money to fix up his house after Hurricane Maria. He doesn't want to go through that again. He's planning to move and let the mortgage company take his home. "I have to. Who wants to live here now?" And he says many of his neighbors are thinking about leaving as well.

1 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。

2 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

3 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

4 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。

5 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？