PBS高端访谈:奥巴马视察路易斯安那州洪水灾区

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Now the aftermath and long road back from the floods in Louisiana.

　　President Obama promised a sustained national effort to rebuilding southern Louisiana during his visit today, one that he said would last long after the cameras leave. One of the worst-hit areas was Livingston Parish, where 70 percent of the homes suffered damage from the worst floods in decades.

　　Layton Ricks is the president of that Parish. And I spoke¹ with him by Skype a short time ago.

　　Mr. Layton Ricks, thank you very much for talking with us.

　　First of all, tell us, where is Livingston Parish in the Baton² Rouge³ area, and just what shape is it in right now?

　　LAYTON RICKS, Livingston Parish President: Well, Livingston Parish is just east of Amite River right across from Baton Rouge. We're a suburb of Baton Rouge, about 141,000 people.

　　Right now, we're not in real good shape. If you drove across our landscape, you will see all the water lines, but that's where we're located. We're a suburb of Baton Rouge.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: When you say you're not in good shape, spell that out for us. What sort of damage there?

　　LAYTON RICKS: Yes, well, we had roughly 60,000-plus structures that were affected⁴, damaged in some way by the flood that we just went through.

　　The water has now receded⁵, but we're still dealing⁶ with the aftermath and have begun the recovery process, but if you drove through our parish right now, you would see a lot of people's belongings⁷ beginning to pile up alongside the road, so that we can start picking it up. And that's just for the aftermath of the devastation⁸ that we're looking at when we drive across from this flood event that we just went through.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you have any idea at this point how much it's going to cost to bring everything back?

　　LAYTON RICKS: You know, I don't. They're still assessing. They're still riding around. Our debris⁹ haulers are out actually assessing and mapping out, as is FEMA.

　　So, I really do not. I know just that Juban Crossing Mall alone, the developers tell me that he thinks that is somewhere around a roughly $30 million hit. The mall is roughly a year-and-a-half to two years old. Stores were still opening. We were moving into the second phase actually of the mall opening. That's just one mall.

　　So we have got substantial damage here in Livingston Parish.

　　奥巴马视察路易斯安那州洪水灾区

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: How would you describe what the main challenges are now facing the people around you? What are you facing?

　　LAYTON RICKS: Well, I think now we have made it through the rescue phase. We have moved into the recovery phase. Now the hardest part is going to be trying to get people some help to get them back in their homes, which were severely¹⁰ damaged in one way or another by the flood.

　　It could be anywhere from two inches to eight, nine, 10 feet in some areas. So, the real problem is — because we also have schools that were damaged. So, the real problem and the challenge ahead is to try to get these people back to their homes as quick as we can, so that the kids can get back into the schools once they open, so there's some sort of normalcy there.

　　So, we're hoping to — we certainly will be assessing and helping¹¹ them do that any way we can, but that is going to be a long, long, drawn-out, slow process, because most people that were severely affected by the flood also lost their vehicles. So they have got to get vehicles. Commercials are down. They're not working yet. So, they don't have a job to go to. So, we have got quite a mess right now.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: So, what sort of outside help do you need from the federal government or anybody else, and do you think you're getting it?

　　LAYTON RICKS: Well, you know, FEMA has really stepped up at this point.

　　I met with Administrator¹² Craig Fugate last week with Governor Edwards and his staff at the governor's office. It was a very good meeting. They assured us any asset that we need, asked for, it would happen. And so far, it has.

　　But what I really need right now, which would be really great for our parish and for surrounding parishes, is for the president to declare this a 90/10 payback for FEMA vs. a 25/75. That would help us in government all across the state tremendously with the enormous impact this storm has had.

　　He can do that, and I hope he will do that very soon, because what that means is the parish will owe back 10 percent vs. the 25 percent. I, quite frankly¹³, don't know where the 10 percent is going to come from, but I know 25 percent right now is just going to be astronomical¹⁴.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, as we reported, the president was there in Baton Rouge today. There has also been some political criticism that he didn't get there sooner. How do you see that? We know Donald Trump¹⁵ was there last Friday.

　　What do these visits mean for the area? And did the politicians get there as soon as you thought they should have?ha

　　LAYTON RICKS: Well, you know, as far as I'm concerned, yes.

　　I didn't need him to come in the middle of this thing, in the heat of the battle last week. What I needed him to do then was declare a state of emergency. He did that. FEMA ramped¹⁶ up really fast under Governor Edwards, along with, as I said, Administrator Craig Fugate. They were signing off on declarations, helping us get the assets that we needed at that time.

　　And so, initially¹⁷, that's what I needed out of the federal government. I feel like we got that. The argument about whether or not he should have come last week, quite frankly, in my opinion, had he come in the middle of this thing last week, we would have been pulling first-responders away from where they needed to be, the assets that we were using to rescue people, and then to handle the shelters, trying to make sure he was safe while he came into our parish.

　　So, I felt like he was OK not coming last week. I do think he should have made a couple of phone calls us to. That would have been nice, to at least heard from him. However, as far as really getting things done for me that I needed, I feel like he did that.

　　The governor's office has been extremely, extremely helpful to us, and that's made a big difference. Now, him coming this week today, I'm disappointed that he didn't call. I'm disappointed that he didn't come over into our parish, since our parish was the one that was most severely hit.

　　But, again, however, as far as him directing FEMA, I think they're doing all they can do for us at this point. But this is a long, drawn-out recovery process. I'm going to need FEMA for a long time to come to help make sure that we're going to be able to get this done for our people and that the parish will be made whole, or as much so as we can, in the aftermath of this.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Layton Ricks, who is the president of Livingston Parish in Louisiana, we thank you very much. And we certainly wish you the very best with the recovery that's coming in the weeks and months to come.

　　LAYTON RICKS: Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate you.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

3 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

4 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。

5 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

8 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 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。

12 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

13 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

14 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

15 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

16 ramped   

土堤斜坡( ramp的过去式和过去分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• With the arrival of George Lucas, the pace has ramped up. 随着乔治·卢卡斯的到来，速度大大加快。
• They also sold corporate bonds as the global financial crisis ramped up. 在全球金融危机加剧之际，他们还抛售了公司债券。

17 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。