CNN 2010-10-31

All right, the wind and the rain are slowing down; now, it's time to start cleaning up. That is what is happening all over the United States after this week's tremendous storms. Maybe your town got hit by this severe weather. It is not alone. Check out this map of the United States. If you start over in New York on the East Coast, you go to Wisconsin in the Midwest, then down the Gulf¹ Coast. There was damage across parts of that entire area. Three states -- Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky -- seemed to get the worst of this. And besides the physical damage, hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed over the past couple days. John Roberts wraps up some of the impact of these storms.

It's that rare of an event.

Everyone has a storm they'll talk about for the rest of their lives. For many folks from the Dakotas down through the south, this was it, their hurricane, their nor'easter. It even had a name: the "Chi-clone."

It sounds just like a train, like they say it does. And as fast as it came is as fast as it went.

A historic storm stretching a staggering 1,200 miles from north to south that had it all: hurricane-force winds, monsoon-like rain, blizzard² warnings and tornadoes³ reported in at least seven states. This surveillance camera kept rolling inside one possible twister in Indiana as the tin roof came off a barn and a boat went airborne. Trees snapped and crushed cars in Kentucky. A rogue⁴ gust⁵ of wind tipped over a semi and tore off its roof in Michigan. And in Ohio, someone came home to find only half their house was there.

We were at work, got a phone call that you better get out to your house, the roof's gone off of it. And I said, "Yeah, right."

Now, the dangerous storm is moving on. But thousands of fliers aren't, as grounded airlines struggle to catch up

We have to leave today.

1 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。

2 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

3 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

4 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

5 gust   

n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发

参考例句：

• A gust of wind blew the front door shut.一阵大风吹来，把前门关上了。
• A gust of happiness swept through her.一股幸福的暖流流遍她的全身。