艾琳飓风横扫美国东海岸 18人丧生

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.

美国人口众多的东部地区在经历了罕有的一次地震之后，又遭遇到了热带飓风的侵袭。星期天，被命名为“艾琳”的飓风从美国南部北上，席卷了纽约等地，至少有18人在这场风暴中丧生，不过这个热带飓风后来被降为热带风暴。但是联邦、州以及地方政府都因此而忙得不可开交。

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.

连续三天，艾琳飓风在美国东海岸上以飓风暴雨的形式，让人们领教了她的威力。虽然没有哪一个地方或者社区被扫为平地，但是，在数千平方公里之内，这场飓风带来的洪水、倒下的树木、遭到破坏的房屋、断电、道路阻塞等等，导致的总体破坏还是相当大的。

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.

一位叫列纳德的住在首都华盛顿的居民说，一颗大树掉到了他们家屋顶上，迫使全家一晚上都没睡好觉。

“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.”

他说：“一开始，没觉得这场风暴有多大威力，但是，突然间，好几颗巨大的橡树倒下来，倒在了房顶上，非常恐怖，我有两个年幼的孩子，一个才两岁半，一个才一岁。”

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.

这场飓风迫使数以千计的班机都被取消，无数的旅客陷入困境。纽约市的公交地铁也有史以来第一次暂停使用。

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

不过，纽约市的居民似乎并没有被这场飓风吓倒。开水果店的阿尔加本就是其中之一。

“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.”

他说：“很多人都抢购了很多东西，其实，根本没什么可担心的。 我们店关了两三个小时之后，就又开张了，现在一切照常。”

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.

和冲击了美国东部地区的地震不同的是，飓风艾琳来临之前，大家已经事先得到了通知。纽约市市长麦克·布隆伯格对广大居民说：“Everyone should be prepared to go inside and stay inside,” he said.

“希望大家都做好准备，留在家里，不要出门。”

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

在很多地方，飓风过后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.”

新泽西州的州长克里斯帝说：“我们目前不知道损失的程度到底有多大，不知道整个新泽西地区，有多少树木，倒在了火车线路上；我们现在要扫清道路，确保通行。”

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

在美国首都华盛顿，国土安全部部长纳波利塔诺在讲话时说，联邦政府将给予各州紧急协助，但是同时她也警告大家说：

“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.”

“我们现在还没有完全脱离危险。艾琳风暴还没有完全过去。在飓风经过的不少地方，还有好多地方，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.

不管飓风与否，一些计划好了的事，还是要照办不误的。纽约市一对夫妻的婚礼就是一例。星期天，名叫赛米·米勒的新娘在举办婚礼的教堂外面，满怀笑容地说：“这一天太重要了，不能因为飓风而改变!”

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.

飓风与否，也不能影响到孩子们的出生。在北卡罗来纳州的一家医院里，克里斯藤·艾里奥特抱着她刚出生的婴儿说：“我那时候有一种感觉，孩子会在飓风横扫期间呱呱落地。”

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

下一步，艾琳将何去何从呢？她将继续北上加拿大，在星期一晚间逐步退下去。