2007年VOA标准英语-Economic Cost of Midwest Storms Mounting

By Mil Arcega
Washington, DC
04 January 2007
 
watch Blizzard¹ Impact

 
Blizzard impact: digging out of the snow
It could take weeks to restore power in parts of the United States Midwest hit hard by back-to-back snowstorms.  Many roads remain impassable as businesses struggle to reopen.  Although a major cleanup is underway, the economic losses are mounting. 

Two powerful winter storms that struck just before Christmas and again after the New Year dumped nearly one meter of snow in parts of the Midwest, causing snow drifts as high as four and a half meters. 

Thousands of people were left stranded²  -- some unable to leave their homes for over a week.  One citizen said, "People can't get out of their homes.  They can't get to the stores.  The stores can't get employees out to work.  It's a mess."

 
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman
Several states have called on the U.S. Agriculture Department to declare the region a federal disaster area.  Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman surveyed the damage from the air. "This is a very difficult situation and it's going to take some time from which to recover,” he said.

In Pueblo³, Colorado, a few roads have reopened but most businesses are expected to remain closed for a while.  National Guard troops said snow accumulations were so heavy they watched as a building collapsed⁵. "All of a sudden we heard a few cracks and some pops and watched the entire building collapse⁴ towards Raton Street."

Business losses, estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, continue to rise.  But the biggest worry right now is what to do with an estimated 350,000 head of cattle that remain stranded.  

Colorado Rancher Yancy Shelton knows from experience that a little snow can be deadly for some animals. "Horses will dig out feed and eat snow whenever there's no water, but cattle, well, they can die of thirst and hunger in belly-deep snow."

Helicopters are dropping tons of hay into the snowy fields to save as many animals as they can.  But state officials say some ranchers have already reported losses.

The last big snowstorm in this area in 1997 killed more than 30,000 cattle, some worth as much as $1,000 per head. 

Nebraska resident Stanley Erickson says this storm is the worst he's ever seen. "We have had blizzards⁶ and stuff, you know, the snow blows and it gets down to 10 below (-23 Celsius) but it don't knock the power lines.  This thing here -- when you lose your power -- you don't realize how important electricity is.  Look at the people that got cattle, they've got to have a power unit to pump water.  This is the worst storm.  I'm not a climatologist, but I would say this storm is a one-in-a-hundred-year type ice storm."

Utility officials say it could take weeks before power is restored to thousands of homes and businesses stretching from Colorado to Oklahoma. 

1 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

2 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

3 pueblo   

n.（美国西南部或墨西哥等）印第安人的村庄

参考例句：

• For over 2,000 years,Pueblo peoples occupied a vast region of the south-western United States.在长达2，000多年的时间里，印第安人统治着现在美国西南部的大片土地。
• The cross memorializes the Spanish victims of the 1680 revolt,when the region's Pueblo Indians rose up in violent protest against their mistreatment and burned the cit

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

6 blizzards   

暴风雪( blizzard的名词复数 )； 暴风雪似的一阵，大量（或大批）

参考例句：

• Even in the summertime we might be struck by blizzards. 甚至在夏天，我们也可能受到暴风雪的袭击。
• Blizzards battered Britain for the third day. 大风雪袭击英国已进入第三天。