PBS高端访谈:加州火灾死亡人数上升 搜救队返回废墟

 　　The toll¹ in the California wildfires is rising tonight, as search teams go through the charred² ruins.

　　Officials have confirmed now at least 29 deaths in a storm of fires that erupted Sunday night.

　　Mina Kim of PBS member station KQED has our report.

　　Hour after hour, the flames keep marching across acre after acre of Northern California's wine country.

　　Some 8,000 firefighters spent a fourth day on the fire lines today, fearing forecasts of winds gusting³ to 45 miles an hour. But they may have caught a break.

　　The good news really is, the wind event that was predicted to blow through the night and today didn't materialize quite the level as predicted.

　　So that gave us a better opportunity to have more containment⁴ on our fires.

　　We still have fire growth on some of our fire in different directions. We have a threat that is continuing in multiple areas, into structures.

　　The threat was enough that officials in Napa County have now evacuated⁵ the entire town of Calistoga, more than 5,000 people.

　　Please keep us in your thoughts. The Calistogans out there who are scattered⁶ around, stay strong.

　　Many of those Calistogans sought refugee at American Canyon⁷ High School in Southern Napa County.

　　Karen Ingalls got a call at 4:30 yesterday morning from a neighbor, saying they were all being told to leave.

　　She's already lost her art studio in another city to the fire.

　　Sending up lots of prayers, asking for prayers from all my friends and family.

　　Donna Hardy⁸ came to the shelter with four of her neighbors.

　　It's depressing. I mean, it is. It's depressing. And lots of times, you will think the worse.

　　But if you're sitting and having a good time, making new friends, it makes you hopeful.

　　In Sonoma County, where the Tubbs fire ravaged⁹ the city of Santa Rosa, families members are still searching for scores of loved ones.

　　Yesterday, Jessica Tunis last speaking to her mother Sunday night.

　　She's coughing, coughing. And I'm telling her I love her.

　　And she tells me she's going to die, she can't get out of her house,

　　she's going to die. And then the phone call drops, and I can't get her back on the phone.

　　Tunis' brother found her mother's body in her Santa Rosa home.

　　Sonoma Sheriff Robert Giordano says recovering victims is hard, grim work.

　　Identification is going to be hard. So far in the recoveries,

　　we have found bodies that were almost completely intact, and we have bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones.

　　We will do everything in power to locate all of the missing people,

　　and I promise you that we will handle remains¹⁰ with care and get them back returned to their loved ones.

　　Lieutenant¹¹ Governor Gavin Newsom visited the region today, and acknowledged the toll on life and property.

　　The immediacy is addressing the urgency of mitigating¹² loss of life, property damage, addressing the needs of people that are in crisis that have no place to go.

　　What caused the spate¹³ of fires is still under investigation¹⁴.

　　The San Jose Mercury News has reported that power lines sparked some of the fires, after they were blown down by gale-force winds.

　　The reports say Sonoma County emergency dispatchers got calls about lines falling and transformers exploding shortly before the fires broke out Sunday night.

　　The utility PG&E said high winds and vegetation growth -- quote -- "contributed to some trees, branches and debris¹⁶ impacting our electric lines across the North Bay."

　　As smoke clouds the sky here, and the fire battle goes on,

　　officials are voicing concern that fires spreading from Sonoma County could merge¹⁵ with ones already burning here in Napa County.

　　For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Mina Kim in Napa County. undefined

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gusting   

（风）猛刮（gust的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Then the treacherous North Atlantic struck, with hail, rain, lightning and gusting wind. 这时，气候变幻莫测的北大西洋出现了冰雹、大雨、闪电和狂风。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Jeff: Sometimes, the partiality and miscarriage of justice are dis-gusting too. 杰夫： 有时，裁判的不公平和误判也真是令人讨厌的一件事情。

4 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

5 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。

6 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

7 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

8 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

9 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

12 mitigating   

v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Are there any mitigating circumstances in this case ? 本案中是否有任何情况可以减轻被告的罪行？ 来自辞典例句
• A sentencing judge is required to consider any mitigating circumstances befor imposing the death penalty. 在处死刑之前，要求量刑法官必须考虑是否有任何减轻罪行之情节。 来自口语例句

13 spate   

n.泛滥，洪水，突然的一阵

参考例句：

• Police are investigating a spate of burglaries in the area.警察正在调查这一地区发生的大量盗窃案。
• Refugees crossed the border in full spate.难民大量地越过了边境。

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

16 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。