艾琳颶風橫掃美國東海岸 18人喪生

Days after withstanding a rare earthquake, large swaths of the densely populated U.S. East Coast have weathered Irene, a once-powerful hurricane later downgraded to a tropical storm. Irene drenched New York Sunday after coming ashore over coastal areas farther south. At least 18 deaths are blamed on the storm, which prompted a massive mobilization of federal, state and local governments.

美國人口衆多的東部地區在經歷了罕有的一次地震之後，又遭遇到了熱帶颶風的侵襲。星期天，被命名爲“艾琳”的颶風從美國南部北上，席捲了紐約等地，至少有18人在這場風暴中喪生，不過這個熱帶颶風后來被降爲熱帶風暴。但是聯邦、州以及地方政府都因此而忙得不可開交。

For three days, Irene pummeled the U.S. East Coast with high winds and torrential rains. Although no communities were obliterated, destruction is widespread over thousands of square kilometers with flooding, downed trees, damaged homes, power outages and impassable roads.

連續三天，艾琳颶風在美國東海岸上以颶風暴雨的形式，讓人們領教了她的威力。雖然沒有哪一個地方或者社區被掃爲平地，但是，在數千平方公里之內，這場颶風帶來的洪水、倒下的樹木、遭到破壞的房屋、斷電、道路阻塞等等，導致的總體破壞還是相當大的。

One Washington D.C. resident, who identified himself as Leonard, survived a harrowing night with his family after a giant tree fell on his home.

一位叫列納德的住在首都華盛頓的居民說，一顆大樹掉到了他們家屋頂上，迫使全家一晚上都沒睡好覺。

“It seemed like a pretty tame storm, and then all of a sudden these big oak trees started falling down on houses," he said. "[I was] very scared. I have two little kids, a two-and-a-half year-old and a one-year-old.”

他說：“一開始，沒覺得這場風暴有多大威力，但是，突然間，好幾顆巨大的橡樹倒下來，倒在了房頂上，非常恐怖，我有兩個年幼的孩子，一個才兩歲半，一個才一歲。”

Untold numbers of travelers were stranded amid thousands of canceled flights. Irene prompted New York City’s first-ever subway closure due to a natural event.

這場颶風迫使數以千計的班機都被取消，無數的旅客陷入困境。紐約市的公交地鐵也有史以來第一次暫停使用。

But stoic New Yorkers seemed to take the storm in stride, including grocery store owner Faris Algabbon.

不過，紐約市的居民似乎並沒有被這場颶風嚇倒。開水果店的阿爾加本就是其中之一。

“Everybody buys a lot of stuff - for nothing. Nothing happened," he said. "We only closed for a couple hours. Now we are open, and now we are good to go.”

他說：“很多人都搶購了很多東西，其實，根本沒什麼可擔心的。 我們店關了兩三個小時之後，就又開張了，現在一切照常。”

Unlike last week’s sudden earthquake, Irene's arrival was anticipated days in advance. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a simple message for residents.

和衝擊了美國東部地區的地震不同的是，颶風艾琳來臨之前，大家已經事先得到了通知。紐約市市長麥克·布隆伯格對廣大居民說：“Everyone should be prepared to go inside and stay inside,” he said.

“希望大家都做好準備，留在家裏，不要出門。”

In many areas, a prolonged period of clean-up and recovery awaits.

在很多地方，颶風過後的清理工作在等待完成。

“We do not know how much damage has been done, how many trees are down on [train] tracks across New Jersey," said New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. "Clearing trees from our roadways.”

新澤西州的州長克里斯帝說：“我們目前不知道損失的程度到底有多大，不知道整個新澤西地區，有多少樹木，倒在了火車線路上；我們現在要掃清道路，確保通行。”

From Washington, a promise of federal assistance, and a warning issued by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

在美國首都華盛頓，國土安全部部長納波利塔諾在講話時說，聯邦政府將給予各州緊急協助，但是同時她也警告大家說：

“We are not out of the woods [safe from potential harm] yet," she said. "Irene remains a large and potentially dangerous storm. Hazards still persist in communities that have already seen the storm pass.”

“我們現在還沒有完全脫離危險。艾琳風暴還沒有完全過去。在颶風經過的不少地方，還有好多地方，要小心。”

Hurricane or no, some events would not be postponed, including one New York wedding. A beaming bride, Sammy Miller, spoke from the steps of her church. “It is too important of a day to miss,” she said.

不管颶風與否，一些計劃好了的事，還是要照辦不誤的。紐約市一對夫妻的婚禮就是一例。星期天，名叫賽米·米勒的新娘在舉辦婚禮的教堂外面，滿懷笑容地說：“這一天太重要了，不能因爲颶風而改變!”

And some babies could not wait to be born. In a Wilmington, North Carolina hospital, Kristen Elliot cradled her infant daughter. "I just kind of felt that she [the baby] was going to come right during the hurricane,” she said.

颶風與否，也不能影響到孩子們的出生。在北卡羅來納州的一家醫院裏，克里斯藤·艾里奧特抱着她剛出生的嬰兒說：“我那時候有一種感覺，孩子會在颶風橫掃期間呱呱落地。”

Irene’s remnants are expected to dissipate over Canada later Monday.

下一步，艾琳將何去何從呢？她將繼續北上加拿大，在星期一晚間逐步退下去。