美国国家公共电台 NPR Experts Warn Some Coastal Residents Should Consider Rebuilding Inland

 

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There was sun again in North Carolina today. But a catastrophe¹ is still unfolding as rivers rise after days of torrential rains from Hurricane Florence. Water rescues continued for a fifth day. The unprecedented² flooding is raising questions about what recovery should look like. NPR's Debbie Elliott has more.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE³: The sheer scope of the flooding is what North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper calls epic⁴. Just listen as he lists the problem spots.

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ROY COOPER: The Black, Little, Lumber⁵, Cape⁶ Fear and Neuse rivers are inundated⁷ with major flooding. And 13 more rivers are forecast to reach major or moderate flood stage.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hey, how long is it going to take you to get to that Target?

ELLIOTT: At the emergency operations center in Raleigh, John Dorman with the North Carolina Emergency Management Agency is directing a team calculating flood levels.

JOHN DORMAN: And we'll click on this one down here in a town called Burgaw. It's in the Cape Fear River Basin. And so...

ELLIOTT: The state has a database that includes where buildings are and how high the water is. It even estimates the cost of damage.

DORMAN: That's a mobile home. That mobile home has got about $11,907 of damage to it. But more importantly, it's got 2 feet of water in the mobile home. So this really helps out on the response side to know exactly where to go.

ELLIOTT: The same model also shows whether the property is covered by flood insurance. Dorman says early indications are that the majority of the destruction here won't be covered. He says the state has been working to change that and get people to think about insurance and mitigation, taking measures to reduce the risk of a flood.

DORMAN: So that we can live with the rivers and the coast and be more resilient.

ELLIOTT: Resilient is a word you hear a lot during disasters. But for some residents, like Preston Harris of Fayetteville, it means rebuilding time and time again and accepting floods as part of life.

PRESTON HARRIS: It's just something to deal with when you live on the river.

ELLIOTT: But experts say, even if people elevate their houses when they rebuild, in some places, it won't be enough. Governor Roy Cooper says the experience two years ago with Hurricane Matthew and now Florence means it's time to rethink. He's even talking about buying out flooded properties.

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COOPER: We are going to have to be smart about our recovery and about our long-range planning. When you have two 500-year floods within two years of each other, it's pretty clear it's not a 500-year flood.

ORRIN PILKEY: Now is the time to start slowly retreating from the shoreline.

ELLIOTT: Orrin Pilkey is a professor emeritus⁸ of earth and ocean studies at Duke University and has written numerous books about living with water and an eroding⁹ coast. He says this kind of superflood inland should be a wake-up call. He says not all of the communities devastated¹⁰ by Florence should recover.

PILKEY: So we have to try to move back now in a planned fashion or move back later catastrophically.

ELLIOTT: But Pilkey says state law favors property development interests and assumes the sea will rise only inches, when scientists predict sea level rise measured in feet. Duke assistant professor Elizabeth Albright studies how people in communities respond after extreme flood events. She says recovery is not just about where you live but how you'll make a living. Albright says the future of the rural economy here is at stake.

ELIZABETH ALBRIGHT: And whether or not it's prepared to adapt to a changing climate going into the future. Eastern North Carolina is very resource dependent - forests, you know, fisheries, agriculture. And I worry very much - are we ready for, you know - quote, unquote - "the new normal" of more extreme events.

ELLIOTT: Early estimates have the damage from Florence nearing $20 billion, and the crisis is still unfolding. Ahead is a recovery that will be measured in years, not months.

Debbie Elliott, NPR News, Raleigh, N.C.

1 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

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 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

5 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

6 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

7 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

9 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

10 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。