VOA慢速英语2020 日本西南部采取措施来应对洪水和疫情（在线收听）

Boxes of face coverings, bottles filled with anti-bacterial agents and a sign saying "Please wear a mask"mark the entrance to a recreation center in Yatsushiro city.

成箱的口罩，装着抗菌剂的瓶子，还有写着“请戴口罩”的标语，它们被放在八代市一个娱乐中心的入口。

The building serves as shelter for people who have fled floodwaters in southwestern Japan this week.

这座建筑用作本周从日本西南部洪水中逃离的人们的避难所。 

Inside the building, pieces of cardboard separate sleeping areas for over 200 men, women, and children.Another sign tells those staying there to take their temperature each morning.

在建筑内部，硬纸板为200多名男性、女性和孩子分隔出睡觉区域。另一个标志告诉待在那里的那些人每天早上量体温。

Such measures show the difficulties Japan is facing as it deals with natural disasters in the time of coronavirus.

这些措施显示了日本在应对冠状病毒时期处理自然灾害时所面临的困难。 

Japanese officials have been warning local leaders to include coronavirus measures in their disaster preparations.Residents have been urged to seek shelter with friends or family members, if possible, to avoid overcrowding in evacuation centers.

日本官员一直在提醒当地领导人，防灾准备工作也要包括应对冠状病毒的措施。当地居民被敦促在可能的情况下投奔朋友或家人，以避免疏散中心过度拥挤。

Aiko Ishimura, a 78-year-old retiree, learned from neighbors on Monday about evacuation orders.She lives alone and had planned to shelter at home.But she chose to flee with neighbors.

78岁的退休老人石村爱子周一从邻居那里得知了疏散命令。她独居而且之前计划在家里避难。但她后来选择和邻居一起逃离。

For Ishimura, spread of the coronavirus is not a top concern.

对石村来说，冠状病毒的传播并不是头等大事。 

"We dont have many cases here in the first place. We dont really do the whole mask-wearing thing," she added.However, Ishimura said she keeps a mask in her pocket.Kumomoto prefecture, where she lives, has had only 49 of Japans more than 20,000 cases of the disease COVID-19.

“首先，我们这里没有很多病例。我们没有真的全部都戴上口罩，”她补充道。但石村说，她的口袋里一直放着一个口罩。在日本2万多例新冠肺炎病例中，她居住的熊本县只有49例。

Those numbers come from the Japanese public broadcaster NHK.That compares with close to 7,000 in Tokyo, where cases are on the rise again among its 14 million residents.

这些数字来自日本公共广播公司NHK。相比之下，东京的病例接近7000例，东京1400万居民中的病例再次呈上升趋势。

Misa Matsuda, a 48-year-old medical worker, knows well about the yearly floods in the area.

48岁的医务工作者松田美佐很清楚该地区每年都会发生洪灾。 

She also had planned to remain at home.But she got a big surprise Monday when she opened her door.She found river water flowing just a few meters from her home."I thought, theres no way the water would come up here to our house, where its a bit of a hill," she said.

她之前也计划待在家里。但她周一打开房门时却大吃一惊。她发现河水从离她家几米远的地方流过。她说：“我当时想，河水不可能流到我们房子这里来，我们的房子在山坡上。”

Extreme weather disasters have become increasingly common in Japan recently.

最近，极端天气灾害在日本越来越常见。 

Last year, Typhoon Hagibis killed nearly 100 people.That storm struck a year after more than 200 died in western Japan in the worst flooding in many years.Matsuda said she was not too concerned about the new coronavirus because basic safety measures were being taken.

去年，台风“海贝思”造成近100人死亡。而这场风暴来袭的前一年，日本西部多年来最严重的洪灾造成200多人死亡。松田说她不太担心新型冠状病毒，因为已经采取了基本安全措施。

But she did worry that residents would gather in the shelter to talk,creating the sort of crowded conditions officials say increase infection risk.City official Takanobu Ono said the evacuation center was limited to 300 people.

但她确实担心居民们会聚集在避难所内聊天，造成官员们所说的增加感染风险的那种拥挤状况。市政官员小野孝绅说，疏散中心的人数被限制在300人。

It can hold up to 500 people."Some of them have just been saved by the skin of their teeth," he said.

它最多能容纳500人。他说：“一些居民侥幸获救。” 

"The reality is that coronavirus is less of a concern for them...So were taking the measures we have to but we havent been so strict about it."

“现实情况是，他们不太担心冠状病毒……所以我们采取了必要措施，但并没有那么严格。” 

Close to 60 people have died from floods and landslides caused by heavy rains across the area since Saturday.

自周六以来，该地区暴雨引发的洪水和山体滑坡已造成近60人死亡。 

Im Ashley Thompson.

阿什利·汤普森为您播报。