美国有线新闻 CNN 路易斯安那遭遇历史性洪水 已致11人死亡

路易斯安那遭遇历史性洪水 已致11人死亡

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0002:14repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. One story we've been following this week is the historic flooding in the U.S. state of Louisiana. A by the numbers look helps us explain how bad it is, especially in Southern Louisiana.

Six-point-nine trillion, that's the number of gallons of rain that started all this, between August 8th and August 14th. Livingston Parish in particular got more than 31 inches of rain in just one day.

Forty thousand, that's the number of homes that had been damaged, in what Louisiana governor calls a major disaster. Twenty thousand, the number of people who've been rescued so far. Eleven deaths have been blamed on the floods across the state.

Five hundred years, the likelihood that a flood this catastrophic would occur in the Baton² Rouge³ area. It means once every 500 years.

And finally, 12, the number of Louisiana parishes that had been declared federal disaster areas. That speeds up federal government assistance to them. More than 12 other parishes may also get this declaration.

We touched on the definition of flash floods the other day. Jennifer Gray now explores what makes this flood so dangerous.

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: In the U.S., flash floods kill more people than tornadoes⁴, hurricanes or lighting⁵. A flash flood creates a rush of moving water than can sweep a grown man off his feet, a car off the road and even your entire home off its foundation.

When the ground becomes so saturated⁶ that water can no longer seep⁷ in to the soil, it begins to run off quickly into rivers and streams and this causes a rise in water and a flash.

Densely⁸ populated areas have an extremely high risk of flash flooding with additional concrete than less grassy⁹ areas for the water to soak into the soil. And they can see flash flooding very quickly. In mountainous terrain¹⁰, the combination of gravity, plus the easy runoff can lead to catastrophic flooding when all of that water is funneled¹¹ into rivers, creeks¹² and even the valleys.

Remember, flash flooding can happen in the blink of an eye. That's why it's important to stay alert and pay attention in case a flash flood watch or warning is issued for your area.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

3 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

4 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

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

7 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

8 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

9 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

10 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

11 funneled   

漏斗状的

参考例句：

• The crowd funneled through the hall. 群众从走廊中鱼贯而过。
• The large crowd funneled out of the gates after the football match. 足球赛后大群人从各个门中涌出。

12 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句