VOA慢速英语2015 美国西海岸城市使用新的海啸避难所

 

AS IT IS 2015-02-02 US West Coast City Using New Tsunami¹ Refuge 美国西海岸城市使用新的海啸避难所

There are coastal² towns all around the world where tsunamis³ could and have caused loss of life and massive destruction. For people living in such areas the ability to reach higher ground as soon as possible is important.

Tsunamis are unexpected huge ocean waves. Earthquakes are often the cause of tsunamis.  And that can interfere⁴ with escape.

What if the wreckage⁵ from an earthquake blocks the path to high ground?  One coastal town in Washington State is copying a method used in Japan to survive tsunamis. Westport, Washington, is building the first U.S. vertical⁶ tsunami shelter.

Next year, Ocosta Elementary School will have a new gym with an especially strong roof that can serve as a tsunami refuge. This will be the first structure in the United States purposely designed for tsunami vertical evacuation.

Westport’s schools were built on sand hills about eight meters above sea level. The area is one of its highest points in town. But it may not be high enough in an extremely powerful earthquake and resulting tsunami.

Models predict a 9.0-magnitude quake would cause waves that would wash over pretty much everything for miles around.

Extra strong materials like concrete and steel will support the new gym. It will be made to resist powerful shaking and absorb hits from large pieces of floating wreckage.

Four outside stairways will lead to the roof that will be able to hold 1,000 people.

Area voters chose to pay higher taxes to help pay for the building project.

Paula Akerlund is the chief of Ocosta Schools. She says the voters acted even though the area struggles with poverty and high unemployment.

Cale Ash says the rooftop refuge is about 4 meters above what scientists estimate the biggest waves could reach.

Lori Dengler is a geology professor and tsunami expert at Humboldt State University in California. She says vertical evacuation is not the best choice.

"If you talk to any emergency manager, they are not going to want to have people isolated⁷ in the top of a building possibly for days -- or maybe even a week or longer."

But she says she understands that sometimes the last choice is the only choice. She says vertical evacuation might offer the only chance of survival in places like Westport. She says that the main issue is whether the structure is tall enough.

After the 2011 tsunami in Japan, Ms. Dengler took part in an examination of the disaster area. The team looked considered the performance of vertical evacuation.The Japanese coast is the only place in the world where such structures are common.

The investigation⁸ team heard how this saved many lives. However, it also noted⁹ that the water topped more than 100 of the structures.

Lori Dengler points out that if a tsunami turns out to be a little bigger than expected, people who move inland can continue to move.

"But once you are on the third or fourth story of a four-story building, you can't go any higher."

Other low-lying communities are considering another kind of tsunami refuge. In Long Beach, Washington, Humboldt County, California, and Padang, Indonesia, people have proposed building tall, rounded structures made of earth.

The proposed design for the southwestern coast of Sumatra includes a park at the top of the mound¹⁰. It could hold many hundreds of people. Like in Westport, many people in Padang would not have enough time to reach higher ground inland before the tsunami reaches them.

Words in this Story

vertical – adj. positioned up and down rather than from side to side: going straight up

vertical evacuation – n. a way to provide “high ground” for communities that lack natural and accessible high ground. (typically, in the event of a tsunami warning).

absorb – v.  to prevent (something harmful or unwanted) from passing through

mound – n. an artificial bank or hill of earth or stones; a rounded hill or natural formation

1 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 tsunamis   

n.海啸( tsunami的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our oceans are alive with earthquakes, volcanoes, and more recently, tsunamis. 海中充满着地震、火山，包括最近发生的海啸。 来自常春藤生活英语杂志-2006年2月号
• Please tell me something more about tsunamis! 请您给我讲讲海啸吧！ 来自辞典例句

4 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

5 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

6 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 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。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。