【原】澳大利亚洪灾来袭 数万人撤离 ｜ 时事外刊

Less than two years after bushfires blazed across Australia, the country's east coast is seeing its worst flooding in decades.

澳大利亚森林大火肆虐不到两年之后，澳大利亚东海岸正经历几十年来最严重的洪灾。

Some areas accumulated over а yard of rainfall since downpours started last Thursday.

自上周四开始的倾盆大雨以来，一些地区累积了超过一码的降雨量。

Tens of thousands have been ordered to evacuate.

数万人已被下令撤离。

On Sunday alone, 500 gigaliters of water, the same volume of water in Sydney Harbor- spilled out of Sydney's largest dam.

仅在星期天, 5000亿升的水，即悉尼港的水量,从悉尼港最大的水坝溢出。

Even as rain subsides, the floodwater will still pose trouble for weeks to come.

即使降雨减弱，在未来几周，洪水仍将带来麻烦。

We're joined now by Laura Chung, who has been reporting on all of this for the Sydney Morning Herald. Welcome.

我们现在连线劳拉钟，她一直在为《悉尼先驱晨报》报道这一切。欢迎。

LAURA CHUNG: Thank you for having me.

劳拉.钟:谢谢你邀请我。

CHANG: Thank you for being with us.

钟:谢谢你和我们在一起。

So what are you hearing from people on the ground there? Can you talk about the scope of the damage that they've seen so far?

你从这里的人听到了什么?你能说说他们目前看到的破坏范围吗?

CHUNG: Of course. So unlike the bushfires, we don't actually have a clear image of how much has just been damaged and destroyed.

钟:当然可以。所以，和森林大火不同的是，实际上，我们并不清楚这次洪水的破坏面积。

We know it's a significant part of the state. But what we do know is there has been water everywhere.

我们知道，这是澳大利亚很重要的一部分。但是，我们知道到处都是水。

We've heard and seen houses just being picked up and floating down rivers that used to be farms and paddocks.

我们听说和看到房屋被冲走，曾经的农场和围场现在都成了河流。

We've heard of livestock just being completely washed away.

我们听说牲畜全都被冲走。

There are videos of cows and horses just trying to make it through these really heavy floodwaters.

有视频显示，牛和马正努力熬过这些非常严重的洪水。

And what used to be streets and paddocks are just now, yeah, completely flooded with water right up to where the power lines are.

以前的街道和围场现在完全被水淹没了，一直淹到电线所在的地方。

CHUNG: So if you can imagine that, it is a very striking image.

钟:所以,如果你能想象，这是一个非常惊人的画面。

CHANG: What about people who didn't or weren't able to evacuate and are now stranded? I mean, how are rescue operations going right now?

钟:没有或不能疏散而现在被困的人怎么办?我是说,现在救援行动进行得怎么样了?

CHUNG: For a lot of people who live in these low-lying plains, floods aren't anything new to them. They've lived with them before. They know how to prepare for them.

钟:对很多生活在这些低洼平原的人来说，洪水并不是新鲜事。以前,洪水如影随形。他们知道如何准备。

But there are a lot of people who were just not quite ready for how quickly the water would come up.

但是，也有很多人对水位上涨的速度还没有做好准备。

So we've got thousands of volunteers from the State Emergency Service who are out there along with police and interstate help as well, who are rescuing people in boats.

所以，我们有数千名州紧急服务中心的志愿者，他们与警察和国家救援人员-起在船上进行救援。

We've also seen helicopters being deployed to try and airlift people out of certain areas.

我们还看到直升机被派往某些地区，试图将人们空运出去。

And you know, not only are volunteers having to deal with the really intense flooding conditions. They re also having to deal with the wildlife that's coming their way as well.

你知道，志愿者不仅要应对非常严重的洪水，他们还必须应对即将到来的野生动物。

So there's this story of these volunteers who were rescuing this family, trekking over several kilometers to get to the family.

所以，有这样一个故事, 这些志愿者拯救了这个家庭，跋涉了几公里到达他们家。

And as they re returning, they got a message over the radio that they have to be aware of snakes.

当他们回来的时候，他们通过无线电接收信息,他们必须注意蛇。

And they reported snakes kind of shimmying up the side of the boat and taking refuge with them just to...Get out of that floodwater.

他们表示，有蛇爬到船边，躲在他们身边，只是为了...蛇来自洪水。

CHANG: Well, Laura, we spoke to you back in December 2019 when the bushfires were spreading across the area. And I'm curious - how do you think recovery from that disaster has affected recovery from this disaster?

钟:劳拉，我们在2019年12月采访过你，当时森林大火正在澳大利亚蔓延。我很好奇，你认为，此次灾后恢复对这次洪灾恢复有什么影响?

I mean, we're talking about communities that were just starting to rebuild, right?

我的意思是，我们谈论的是刚刚开始重建的社区,对吗?

CHUNG: Exactly. And they've gone through the bushfires and then - last year - and then immediately after that, there was a first round of floods, and then they were hit by the pandemic and now these floods again.

钟:没错。他们经历了森林大火,然后--去年--紧接着，又发生了第一轮洪水，然后，他们又受到了流行病的袭击，现在又发生了这次洪水。

So it's just been crisis after crisis and compounding their loss.

一场又一场的危机加剧了他们的损失。

Now, one farmer I spoke to had gone through, you know, all these crises.

我采访过的一个农民经历了所有这些危机。

And he said, you know, what the fires didn't take, the floods have taken.

他表示，你知道，大火没有带走的，洪水带走了。

And this sentiment has been repeated to me by so many people in that they've already suffered so many losses that this time around, they don't really have anything else to lose.

很多人都对我重复了这种观点，他们已经遭受了太多的损失，这一次，他们真的无所失去。

There is this sense of, what next? You know, it's just hit us again and again and again.

人们会想，接下来会发生什么?灾难一次又一次地袭击我们。

CHANG: Well, I understand that much of the rain has dissipated now.

钟:嗯，据我所知，现在，大部分的雨水已经消失了。

Can I just ask you, what is it like to finally see some blue skies and some sunshine where you are right now?

我能不能问你，当你终于在这里看到蓝天和阳光是什么感觉？

CHUNG: It is a very welcome sight (laughter) -a very strange sight after about seven days of rain.

钟:这是一个非常受欢迎的景象(笑声)一下了大约七天的雨后，这是一个非常奇怪的景象。

CHUNG: But I think the message that we've constantly heard is the danger is not over.

钟:但我认为，我们经常听到的信息是， 危险还未结束。

For many people, the flood and the cleanup has only just started.

对很多人来说，洪水和清理工作才刚刚开始。

And many residents are saying, well, yes, while we've survived the floods, we've got months of trying to get our lives back on track.

许多居民表示，是的，虽然我们在洪水中幸存了下来，但我们有几个月的时间来努力让我们的生活回到正轨。

CHANG: Laura Chung of the Sydney Morning Herald, thank you so much for your reporting. And stay safe.

钟:非常感谢您的报道。注意安全。