VOA标准英语2009年-Senegal Activates Emergency Plan After Flo

After heavy rains led to widespread flooding in the capital, Dakar, Senegal's Prime Minister has activated² a national disaster-response plan to relieve thousands of people affected³ by the floodwaters. Dakar's sprawling⁴ suburbs have been hit the hardest.
　
Flood waters inundate⁵ a neighborhood on the outskirts⁶ of Dakar after heavy rains, 31 Aug 2009

Five days of heavy rain have affected all parts of Senegal's capital, from the poshest neighborhoods to the poorest slums. In response, the government activated their national emergency response plan on Thursday, freeing up more than $4 million for flood-relief.

The International Federation⁷ of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has also provided 194 families with emergency supplies including mosquito nets, tarpaulins⁸ and water purification tablets.

Despite these efforts, Dakar's densely-populated suburbs are still suffering the effects of the rain as inhabitants live suspended above floodwaters that have nowhere to go.

Ndiaye Thiaw lives in Wahkinane Nimzatt, a neighborhood that has been hit hard by the recurrent floods. She lives on the edge of a large basin dug by the government in 2005 to contain floodwaters.

This year, the basin burst its banks and Thiaw's house now sits on a lone⁹ promontory¹⁰ surrounded by trash-filled water.

Thiaw says the water has a huge effect on her family. The conditions we live in are really appalling¹¹, she says. Every evening we sit here and break the [Ramadan] fast here in the water. If we had the means, she says, we would do something to stop the water from coming in.

In Thiaw's bedroom, her wooden bedframe sits on bricks, suspended above a foot of yellowish water. In the courtyard, food and cooking utensils¹² are balanced on stacked stones.

Thiaw is worried about the health effects of the water invading her house.

Thiaw says she lights mosquitoes coils to keep the mosquitoes away. We have suspended everything above water level, she says, including important papers like birth certificates and clothes. We make sure our plates do not touch the water and before eating we wash our hands with bleach¹³ because this water is full of germs.

Alioune Badara Faye is the newly-elected mayor of Wakhinane Nimzatt. He is troubled by the lack of preparation for an event that is predictable.

Faye says the government waits until the disaster strikes before they activate¹ their emergency plan. They have just released $4 million for flood relief, he says. But what if they had put that money into preparing? The $4 million is difficult to track, it disappears with petrol and food costs. In the end we do not see the impact of that money here.

Though the emergency plan is helping¹⁴ some, Faye says, it is not enough.

The government has provided motorized pumps to evacuate¹⁵ water from flooded areas. At a press conference last week, Senegal's prime minister Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye said that without these efforts the flooding could have been a lot worse.

As the rainy season continues, weather forecasts promise more rain and surely more flooding.

1 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

2 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

5 inundate   

vt.淹没，泛滥，压倒

参考例句：

• If the dam breaks,it will inundate large parts of the town.如果水坝坍塌，该城的大部分将被淹没。
• The course changes frequently,and the area is so flat that a small change in the level of the river may inundate a considerable area.河道变化多端，下游地区却很平坦，水位少许上涨河流就会淹没一大片土地。

6 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 tarpaulins   

n.防水帆布，防水帆布罩( tarpaulin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Main wood to aluminum and plexiglass, PC, tarpaulins, toughened glass. 主材以铝型材与进口有机玻璃、PC、防水布、钢化玻璃。 来自互联网
• That means providing tents or other materials, including plastic sheeting, tarpaulins and wood. 这意味着需要帐篷和其他物资，包括塑料布、放水油布和木材。 来自互联网

9 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

10 promontory   

n.海角；岬

参考例句：

• Genius is a promontory jutting out of the infinite.天才是茫茫大地突出的岬角。
• On the map that promontory looks like a nose,naughtily turned up.从地图上面，那个海角就像一只调皮地翘起来的鼻子。

11 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

12 utensils   

器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物

参考例句：

• Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

13 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

14 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

15 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。