美国国家公共电台 NPR 6 Months After Paradise Burned, Trauma Endures For Kids And Adults

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Six months ago, the deadly Camp Fire devastated¹ the small Northern California town of Paradise. It was the deadliest fire in the state's history and claimed more than 80 lives and destroyed thousands of homes. Since then, residents have been grappling with rebuilding their lives while dealing² with the ongoing³ trauma⁴ from the fires.

Now that the initial shock has worn off, mental health officials in Butte County schools say that students are experiencing a second wave of trauma. From member station KQED, Michelle Wiley has more.

MICHELLE WILEY, BYLINE⁵: A backhoe is lifting pieces of desks and twisted hunks of metal from what used to be Paradise Elementary School and dropping them into a nearby truck.

(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLANGING)

WILEY: For students that used to go here and others impacted by the deadly Camp Fire, they've had a lot to deal with in the six months since the area was ravaged⁶ - housing and security, a loss of routine and the ongoing trauma from the devastation⁷. And now, experts say, it's getting worse.

DENA KAPSALIS: A lot of acting⁸ out, tiredness, inability to focus...

WILEY: Dena Kapsalis is director of student services for the Paradise Unified⁹ School District.

KAPSALIS: ...Shutting down, being unable to maintain relationships with adults or peers.

WILEY: The trauma response team in Butte County knew they'd start seeing the second wave of symptoms from kids around now, especially on the six-month mark. Significant anniversaries like that often trigger survivors¹⁰ of disasters into reliving moments of the traumatic event. Kapsalis says counselors¹² try to view these signs of trauma as forms of communication.

KAPSALIS: With kids, it's right out there on the table, and then we can respond. You know, as the adults in the community, we can respond quickly and maybe more accurately¹³ to what's really happening with them. So they're communicating loss. They're communicating a need for help, a need for support.

WILEY: But while kids may show their symptoms more obviously, for counselors, seeing those signs in teachers can be even more difficult.

KAPSALIS: With adults, it's much harder - right? - because they have all kinds of systems of coping that often disguise what's really going on with them.

WILEY: Counselors have started making themselves available in staff rooms and hallways so they can encourage teachers to talk about what they're experiencing and connect them with services. But despite a need for mental health support across the board, officials say they're still struggling to hire enough counselors.

Roy Applegate helps lead the trauma response team in Butte County schools. He says they currently have six schools that have requested help, but they don't have any staff to send them.

ROY APPLEGATE: It's a little bit like rain in the desert in the summer. It just - as soon as it hits the ground, it disappears. We can give our counselors who we have hired as many hours as they need, and they're full up all the time. And they're working to the max.

WILEY: Applegate even came out of retirement¹⁴ to help out. So did fire recovery counselor¹¹ Pamela Beeman.

PAMELA BEEMAN: My husband is my witness. When I got the phone call, I said, oh, no, I really don't want to go back to work. And they said, no, we really need you, and we need more people. So you just can't say no to that.

WILEY: Beeman says she's committed to finishing out the spring term at her school but doesn't know if she can continue on after that.

BEEMAN: Those schools are really needy¹⁵. They (laughter) really use the help.

WILEY: Counselors say as much as people in Butte County want to be over the trauma, the recovery period is just getting started. And California's next fire season is right around the corner. For NPR News, I'm Michelle Wiley in Butte County.

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 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

4 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

5 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。

6 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

7 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

9 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

12 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

13 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

14 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

15 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。