2007年VOA标准英语-Texas Town Recalls Devastating Tornado

By Greg Flakus
Houston, Texas
05 June 2007
 

The recent deadly tornadoes² that struck rural Kansas brought back sad memories for the people of Jarrell, Texas, a community of about 1400 people less than an hour's drive north of the state capital, Austin. It was ten years ago that a tornado¹ devastated³ part of the town and killed 27 people, many of them children.  VOA's Greg Flakus visited Jarrell and filed this report.

The tornado that struck the northwest corner of Jarrell in 1997 was classed an F-5, the most lethal⁴ and damaging type.

Just off the town's main thoroughfare, the loss in human life is commemorated⁵ with a small monument. Real estate broker⁶ Jeff Stockton lost many friends to the storm. "This is a whole family of five, this is a family of four, the parents and then the kids," said Stockton, pointing to engraved⁷ names on a tombstone.

Most children had just come home from school that late afternoon when the tornado hit. Most tornadoes come from the south, but as Stockton explains, this one came from the north.

Jeff Stockton

"Right now we are standing⁸ on the west side of I-35 on the north end of Jarrell and this is about where it first came down and the tornado really started hitting the ground right here on the north side of town,” said Stockton. "This is the first place it came through and the biggest damage it did here was tear up a bunch of mesquite trees here and killed quite a few cows that were out in the pasture, but then when it hit the residential⁹ area, that is when we lost some friends."

Most people survived the Jarrell tornado by getting away, but many residents of the Double Creek¹⁰ subdivision took shelter inside their homes. That would have saved them from a normal tornado, but not this one.

“These people here, they perished. But they did what they were told to do, which is go to the center of your house and get down and try to find safety,” Stockton said. “There was no safety from this storm."

One of the first people on the scene was city worker Tookie Mullen. "It was bad. They had already pulled eight or ten bodies up on the slabs¹¹, pieces of bodies, half bodies and it was real bad," Mullen recalls.

Mullen says he was unable to talk about the experience for more than a year. He has learned to deal with the memory, but having seen the results of nature's fury, he stays vigilant¹².

"I am really a big weather watcher. I always was, but now I watch it a lot more. I have about six weather deals set up on my satellite system, because I do worry about it," says Mullen.

Jeff Stockton, like most people here, puts his faith in a storm shelter made of concrete and designed to be set into the ground. He says one of these can hold his family and some neighbors if necessary.

"That is not a problem to get everybody in there and I can promise you, I do not care how many people are in that thing, if there is a tornado coming, there is room for me!"

Ten years after the tornado, Jarrell is an active town. There are new houses on all the lots in Double Creek, except one -- where a high school friend of Jeff Stockton and her daughter died.

Stockton says Jarrell's favorable location, near Austin, and on the interstate, makes it an attractive location for business, keeping the community growing. He explains, "We want to make this a place where kids can grow up and they can come back and get good work."

Stockton says Jarrell is moving forward, but never forgetting its tragedy.

1 tornado   

n.飓风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• A tornado whirled into the town last week.龙卷风上周袭击了这座城市。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 tornadoes   

n.龙卷风，旋风( tornado的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Tornadoes, severe earthquakes, and plagues create wide spread havoc. 龙卷风、大地震和瘟疫成普遍的毁坏。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists are at odds over the working of tornadoes. 气象学者对龙卷风的运动方式看法不一。 来自互联网

3 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

4 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

5 commemorated   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lincoln commemorated the soldiers killed in the battle in his address. 林肯在演说中表扬阵亡将士。 来自辞典例句
• You'll be commemorated for killing a spy, and be specially discharged. 你们每杀一个间谍将会被记录到特殊档案。 来自电影对白

6 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

7 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

10 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

11 slabs   

n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片

参考例句：

• The patio was made of stone slabs. 这天井是用石板铺砌而成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The slabs of standing stone point roughly toward the invisible notch. 这些矗立的石块，大致指向那个看不见的缺口。 来自辞典例句

12 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。