每日评论0711 颱風災難 炎熱難耐

颱風災難 炎熱難耐

貝爾利颱風上週末橫掃大休斯敦地區帶來了八級風災及大量雨水，自星期一上午三時至今已經有四天之久，超過三分之一的商住用戶仍然處於無電可用之窘情。尤其是德州超過百度之高溫，已經造成民眾危機。

市及縣政府已有設置避暑中心，凡是沒有空調之市民可以前往避難，以免被酷熱天氣熱死。

負責修復電源的中央電纜公司在多次短訊中多次向市民表示，他們已經盡力在搶修中,但是因為風災造成之樹木大量倒塌致使電線折斷,雖然動員上萬工人搶修仍然無法全面供電。

老實說，這次還在繼續中之災難,除了住家之外最令人同情的還是許多小型商家,連續幾天關門收入減少如何應付開支。

更令人不解的是我們是世界最先進的國家，而基礎建設如此不堪一擊,而國家及地方官員置庶民之利益而不顧,國內之公路,機場都急待整修，

我們要問,電力公司總裁年薪上千萬,難道你不知道風災會來嗎? 為何不早做準備更新電路電線桿或埋在地下?

大多數人還處在水深火熱之中,實在令人感到失望和無助。

Hurricane Beryl Brings Disaster Coupled With Unbearable Heat

Hurricane Beryl swept the Greater Houston area last weekend and brought Hurricane Category 8 strong winds and large amounts of rain to the area. It has now been four days since 3 a.m. Monday morning when the 

storm hit and still more than one-third of residential and commercial power users have no power. This has created an especially dangerous situation with temperatures reaching over 100 degrees every day in the Greater Houston area which has now caused 

a widespread and unprecedented public crisis.

The city and county governments have set up cooling centers for all citizens who are without air conditioning to go to these shelters to avoid the discomfort and real danger of the hot summer temperatures.

CenterPoint Energy, which is responsible for repairing the damage done to the power supply, has repeatedly told customers that they are trying their best to repair the problems, but tens of thousands of customers are still without power. 

To be honest, CenterPoint should have responded long before the hurricane  hit our city. The most tragic thing is 

that many small businesses that have been impacted cannot cope with the unexpected reduction in income for more than a few days. 

What‘s more puzzling is that while the U.S. is considered the strongest country in the world, our infrastructure is still 

so vulnerable and fragile and yet the federal government seems to  ignore the interests of the common people. Domestic highways, airports and bridges nationwide are in urgent need of renovation. 

We also want to ask the CEO of CenterPoint Energy, "When did you first know that Hurricane Beryl was coming?" 

Most of the people are still in the dark with no power, which has brought deep feelings of worry, disappointment, helplessness and disillusionment.