美国国家公共电台 NPR--Even the plows got stuck around the Buffalo area after a severe storm

Even the plows¹ got stuck around the Buffalo² area after a severe storm

Transcript³

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to news anchor Ed Drantch of WKBW-TV about the impact of a deadly blizzard⁴ in Buffalo, N.Y.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Of all the places pounded by cold weather over the weekend, Buffalo was among the worst hit. That we're even talking about snow in Buffalo on the national news says something because this city knows snow. When Buffalo has it bad, it is bad. New York Governor Kathy Hochul spoke⁵ on CNN of a storm that caused numerous deaths.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KATHY HOCHUL: This will go down in history as the most devastating⁶ storm in Buffalo's long, storied history.

INSKEEP: Wow, that's saying something. One reporter who's living this story is Ed Drantch of WKBW News in Buffalo. Welcome to the program.

ED DRANTCH: Hi, Steve. Good morning to you. Thanks for having me.

INSKEEP: Good morning. You came to my attention over the weekend because you posted a video just trying to describe your commute⁷ in Buffalo. Other people are home. You got to go to work. How's your commute been?

DRANTCH: This is now days after that video. Today is a completely different story. We still have a driving ban here in Erie County. And that's in place until further notice. There are certain places across western New York that have started to lift that travel ban. That said, the roads are still really dangerous to be out on. It's not just the snow that's drifted all throughout the area and the cars that are dotting the streets. It's the ice that's also under all of that snow, because if you remember, it was rain initially⁸.

INSKEEP: Yeah.

DRANTCH: We had a flash freeze. And then the snow started falling. Mix that all together and you've got a deadly combination.

INSKEEP: When you talk about the cars, the abandoned cars dotting the streets, that strikes my attention again because I trust that people in Buffalo know how to drive in snow. This was something different, it sounds like.

DRANTCH: Well, and it's because this was such a dire⁹ situation as well. In certain cases, many people thought that they could brave the elements and make it to where they were going only to come to realize there was an absolute whiteout. This was like nothing I've ever seen before. And I've lived in Buffalo now 11 years. The county executive was describing it as holding a white sheet of paper in front of your face for minutes at a time. Try driving like that. You're blinded. You have no idea where you're going, where you are. It's disorienting. People literally¹⁰ had to get out of their cars, leave them where they are and find another way to get to where they were going, hopefully home.

INSKEEP: Are there people at this point missing as well as dead?

DRANTCH: There are a number of people who've been reported dead. At least a dozen deaths so far in the city of Buffalo, the town of Cheektowaga, which is just outside the city of Buffalo, and a couple of other places as well. The fear at this point is there are more deaths that haven't been confirmed just yet. And when you think of that, your heart breaks for these families because in some cases, some of these people were found inside cars and because of the cold and because the snow drifts. They were buried in some cases. That's possible. But the idea that these people were helpless is something that is just gut-wrenching.

INSKEEP: Are you hearing stories of people inside their homes without heat at this point?

DRANTCH: Absolutely. There are still, this morning, more than 10,000 national grid¹¹ customers in the city of Buffalo without power. And those people have been without power, in some cases, for days now. Grocery stores aren't open in the city of Buffalo right now. And they probably won't open again until tomorrow. The airport is closed until tomorrow. So people aren't even coming to or from even for holiday travel. The city was at a standstill for the last three days.

INSKEEP: Ed Drantch of WKBW in Buffalo. Thanks so much.

DRANTCH: Thank you, Steve.

1 plows   

n.犁( plow的名词复数 )；犁型铲雪机v.耕( plow的第三人称单数 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• Alex and Tony were turning awkward hands to plows and hoe handles. 亚历克斯和托尼在犁耙等农活方面都几乎变成新手了。
• Plows are still pulled by oxen in some countries. 在一些国家犁头仍由牛拖拉。

2 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

5 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。

6 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

8 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。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。