VOA标准英语2008年-India Declares Flood a 'National Calamity'

India's prime minister on Thursday declared the flooded state of Bihar a "national calamity¹" and ordered emergency relief. The official death toll² is 55 but it is believed hundreds more have drowned. VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from New Delhi on what is being described as possibly the worst Indian flood in half a century.

India is trying to come to grips with the worsening disaster in one of its poorest states.

The breach³ of the Kosi River is now being called one of India's worst floods in recent memory.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accompanied by the leader of the coalition⁴ of the governing parties, Sonia Gandhi, boarded an Air Force helicopter for an aerial look at the soaked state. He then ordered emergency reserves of 125,000 tons of food grain poured into Bihar. The state will also receive $225 million to help alleviate⁵ what the prime minister calls a "national calamity."

Relief camps are being established to assist those whose villages are under or surrounded by water.

The coordinator⁶ for emergency operations in Bihar for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, Mukesh Puri, tells VOA News more than two million people have already been affected⁷.

"Sanitation⁸ and availability of drinking water are going to be highly restrained therefore there is always the possibility of water-borne diseases and some epidemics⁹ breaking out unless disease surveillance happens and proper health care facilities are provided, especially to the vulnerable groups like children and women," said Puri.

The worst is not over. The Kosi River flows from Nepal where it breached¹⁰ its embankments on August 18. The Kosi's swollen¹¹ flow is now estimated upstream to be more than 12 kilometers wide and the river has actually shifted to the east.

UNICEF emergency coordinator Puri says with that water flowing into Bihar - and more heavy rain forecast - the crisis could become much more severe.

"The biggest concern is clearly that the discharge is expected to increase. In the coming months it can double," said Puri. "Therefore the biggest threat comes from the water which is coming from upstream. So rains will clearly make things much worse."

Some wet and hungry villagers clinging to rooftops are sending desperate text messages to relatives and others pleading for rescue. Others are resorting to drinking the dirty floodwaters to survive.

West of Bihar, in the most populated Indian state, Uttar Pradesh, torrential rains have caused several major rivers to rise above their banks. Officials say the flooding there has killed more than 700 people. Authorities estimate that hundreds of villages in Uttar Pradesh are completely surrounded by water.

1 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

6 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

9 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

10 breached   

攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• These commitments have already been breached. 这些承诺已遭背弃。
• Our tanks have breached the enemy defences. 我方坦克车突破了敌人的防线。

11 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。