美国国家公共电台 NPR After Four Months Without Power, A Puerto Rico Town Strings Its Own Lines

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

It has been four months since Hurricane Maria devastated¹ Puerto Rico. And still, 40 percent of the island's customers are still without power. But as NPR's Adrian Florido reports, some people in one town got so tired of waiting they decided² to do it themselves.

ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE³: Rosa Cruz and her husband, Luis Felipe Colon⁴, both retired⁵, haven't had electricity for four months. So they've eaten mostly canned food, and prayed that Rosa doesn't have an asthma⁶ attack because they can't plug in a nebulizer. Their little house in a rural part of western Puerto Rico sits on a hillside. From their porch, they look down on the town of San Sebastian.

LUIS FELIPE COLON: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "When there was no electricity," Colon says, "it looked really beautiful at sunset." But he adds that as power has slowly been restored to the town below, it's looked even more beautiful.

ROSA CRUZ: (Speaking Spanish).

COLON: (Speaking Spanish)

FLORIDO: "I tell him, look, there's light down there," his wife says. "It's getting closer to us." This morning, they woke up and saw that a crew had rehoisted the downed utility pole in front of their house. Colon says he literally⁷ jumped.

COLON: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "What joy," he said. "It's our turn." The men working out front were not with the utility company or the Army Corps⁸ of Engineers or any of the official government crews working to restore the island's power. They were San Sebastian's police chief and a retired employee of the utility company and a bunch of other men from this municipality, all volunteering to restore power to their own town. San Sebastian's city hall is on a picture-perfect plaza⁹ with a fountain and a church. In his office there, Mayor Javier Jimenez says that back in November after nearly two months of waiting for the power authority to start grid¹⁰ repairs in his town, he couldn't take it anymore.

JAVIER JIMENEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "The first thing I did," he says, "was find out which of our employees were electricians." Jimenez said he then put out a call for help from linemen and other people who used to work with the power authority but were now retired.

JIMENEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "And so we started these brigades," he said. They even gave themselves a name, the Pepino - or cucumber - Power Authority - the PPA - after the town's full name, San Sebastian Las Vegas del Pepino. They designed a logo, slapped it on their helmets and utility trucks. The Pepino Power Authority started fixing electric lines in the center of town and has been working its way out to the hills. They have met resistance. The island's electric utility accuse Jimenez of circumventing¹¹ its authority. He admits he did. But the mayor objects to another accusation¹², that what he's doing is unsafe.

JIMENEZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "One of the first things we did," Jimenez says, "was establish a safety protocol¹³. And we even brought in a government inspector¹⁴." Across Puerto Rico, mayors still waiting for repair crews to arrive in their municipalities have started pressuring the governor to allow them to legally restore their own power. So this week, the legislature announced a bill that could allow cities to hire their own contractors¹⁵.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: In San Sebastian, the Pepino Power Authority has already restored service to about 2,500 homes. Joaquin Cruz, a volunteer, says the goal is to restore 100 percent of San Sebastian's homes before the end of January.

JOAQUIN CRUZ: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "Yesterday, we did between 60 and 80," he says. "And today will be the same." One of those is the little hillside home of Rosa Cruz and Luis Felipe Colon, who've been watching the progress from their porch all day.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #3: (Speaking Spanish).

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #4: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: Every time the workmen of the Pepino Power Authority are ready to turn the power back on to a new home, they get giddy with excitement. Felix Aviles, the police chief turned electrician, races up to the house, switches on the breaker and then flips¹⁶ the switch for the porch light. It turns on.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "Thank you," Rosa Cruz tells the workers. "We are so blessed." Adrian Florido, NPR News, San Sebastian, Puerto Rico.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRISTEZA'S "STUMBLE ON AIR")

1 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 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。

4 colon   

n.冒号，结肠，直肠

参考例句：

• Here,too,the colon must be followed by a dash.这里也是一样，应当在冒号后加破折号。
• The colon is the locus of a large concentration of bacteria.结肠是大浓度的细菌所在地。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

10 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

11 circumventing   

v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的现在分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行

参考例句：

• They found a way of circumventing the law. 他们找到了规避法律的途径。
• This viewpoint sees the Multinational Corporation as capable of circumventing or subverting national objectives and policies. 这种观点认为，跨国公司能够遏制和破坏国家的目标和政策。 来自辞典例句

12 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

13 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

14 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

15 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。