PBS高端访谈:大西洋有记录以来最强飓风Irma来袭

 　　In the day's other major story, Hurricane Irma is now the most powerful storm ever recorded in the open Atlantic Ocean.

　　It has winds of 185 miles an hour, and it's closing in on the Northeast Caribbean.

　　That has one forecaster warning that the Leeward¹ Islands are going to get destroyed.

　　Ed Rappaport is the acting² director of the National Hurricane Center. And he joins me from Miami.

　　Ed Rappaport, the strongest storm ever in the Atlantic, what is known about Irma right now?

　　Well, the winds are at what we would put as a Category 5 level. That's as high as it goes.

　　And the concern is that we don't expect there to be a lot of change in intensity³ over the next several days as the hurricane moves to the west.

　　And here's the forecast from the National Hurricane Center.

　　And we have got the center forecast to move across the northeast wind, eastward⁴, Lesser⁵ Antilles,

　　and very near the north coast of Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and then Cuba as a Category 4 or perhaps still Category 5 hurricane.

　　Why are you saying you don't expect much change in the storm?

　　Well, for one, this is as strong as we have ever seen in that area, so we don't -- the conditions have come together in such a way as to produce this.

　　But it's not clear how we could see something even stronger than that. We do see fluctuations⁶ at times with storms that are this intense.

　　It may go up a little. It may come down.

　　But, regardless, when it approaches the islands and potentially makes landfall on some of the islands farther to the West, it will be Category 4, Category 5, maybe Category 3.

　　But the differences are really going to be inconsequential. It's a potentially devastating⁷ hurricane, and with severe impacts from wind, storm surge, and possibly also rainfall.

　　And, Ed, we know, right now, it's in the Caribbean, in the islands, but what about in the United States. What are concerns? What should they be now?

　　Yes, the next 24 hours will be a significant concern for the U.S. Virgin⁸ Islands and Puerto Rico.

　　But downstream from that, over the next several days, we're going to see the hurricane move along the north coast of Cuba, and then likely turn to the north.

　　What we don't know quite yet is where that turn is going to occur relative to Florida, east coast, west coast, over the state.

　　So, at this stage, what we're looking for is impacts on South Florida most likely over the weekend, perhaps beginning on Saturday, with the worst of it to be on Sunday.

　　Ed Rappaport with another big storm that you're watching, thank you very much. undefined

1 leeward   

adj.背风的；下风的

参考例句：

• The trees all listed to leeward.树木统统向下风方向倾。
• We steered a course to leeward.我们向下风航驶。

2 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。

3 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

4 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

5 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

6 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。