飓风Katrina一周年

You know, I think there is a certain measure of uncertainty¹ that exists here and in the Gulf² Coast as well. Uncertainty as to whether New Orleans will really come back to the way it was. And I'm always struck when I came down here at the neighborhood loyalty³ that exists. A lot people worried if New Orleans comes back, "can my neighborhood,er, recover?". And underlying⁴ both those questions obviously, just how safe is New Orleans. Now, will the levees hold? It was just this weekend that the head of the Army Corps⁵ of Engineers said that he can't guarantee that the levees would hold if another storm with the severity of Katrina were to hit.

If New Orleans is hit by a hurricane as powerful as Katrina, the Army Corps has equipped the city with an 800-million dollars arsenal- 220 miles of repaired and reinforced levees and floodwalls and temporary floodgates and pumps.

the elements that we rebuilt are bigger and stronger than they were put prior to the storm.

But dozens of other engineers funded by the National Science Foundation are pessimistic after analyzing⁶ Katrina's destruction.

We can expect another disaster,er, rupture⁷ the walls, and again catastrophic flooding. Today that levee is not nearly as competent, strong as it should be.

The Army Corps of engineers is confident that it has strengthened the levee's weakest links. But still...

Even if, if the walls withstood the force, er, which you know, at this point they will. Er, the water is still gonna come over the top of them.

Some neighborhoods could face up to 6 feet of flooding but the Corps of engineers believes next time no breaches⁸. Because those broken levees are fixed⁹ with new metal piling, 70 feet into ground. Meantime, the Department of Homeland Security has a plan to evacuate¹⁰ residents with no way to get out, 50 hours before a hurricane hits, ten hours later flood-prone, low-lying neighborhoods would be evacuated¹¹ and then 30 hours before a storm's landfall, a citywide mandatory¹² evacuation. The Superdome will not be used as a shelter and the convention center will be used only as a command post and a center to process bus evacuees¹³. Airlines will be asked to help out already ticketed tourists who want to bail¹⁴ out early and trains will be used especially to evacuate the elderly.

We are the only city in the United States today as trains setting right now, ready to take citizens out of the city of New Orleans in an evacuation.

Trains, planes and buses. Floodgates, walls and pumps. Is it enough to protect New Orleans? The city hopes never to find out.

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levee :Am E a wall of soil built along the side of a river 防洪提
rupture:if an organ or object rupures or you rupture it, it bursts or tears suddenly 破裂
mandatory:ordered by a law or rule 强制的

1 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

3 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

4 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

5 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。

6 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

7 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

8 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

9 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

10 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

13 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

14 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。