Caribbean flood toll mounts
加勒比洪水造成伤亡人数增加

☆ toll 在此指人员伤亡、损失

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Thursday, May 27, 2004 Posted: 0647 GMT (1447 HKT)

FOND VERRETTES, Haiti -- The United States and Canadian forces are struggling to assess the scope of a disaster following days of rain in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
海地，FOND VERRETTES----在海地和多米尼加共和国，灾难性暴雨已持续数日，美加军队正全力对此造成的损失程度进行评估。

☆ assess 估定, 评定

Nearly 900 people are confirmed dead, hundreds are missing and entire villages have been swept up as riverbeds have turned into burial sites on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
在加勒比，海地岛，洪水肆虐，已造成近900人证实死亡，数百人失踪，许多村庄被整个淹没。

Rescue workers dug through mud and debris for bodies three days after torrential weekend rains sent rivers of mud and swirling waters through Hispaniola, the island shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
在海地和多米尼加共和国所在的海地岛上，周末的倾盆大雨形成了很多泥泞的或是湍急的小流，救援人员在泥泞和碎石中挖掘寻找遇难者。

☆ torrential rain 倾盆大雨

Because many parts of the island are remote, authorities have found it hard to assess just how many people have died, with Reuters news agency saying close to 2,000 people may have been killed.
由于岛上很多地区相距遥远，当局很难估计准确地死亡人数，据路透社称，近2000人遇难。

Rains swept away entire villages near the Dominican border town of Jimani, and other towns across the Haitian border, including Fond Verrettes, where more than 158 people are missing and presumed dead.
在靠近多米尼加边界的Jimani镇，及海地边境上的其他小镇，包括Fond Verrettes，大雨将村庄整个冲走，仅在Fond Verrettes即有超过158人失踪，据推测已经死亡。

☆ presumed 推测的

Health officials fear as many as 1,000 people could be dead in the single Haitian town of Mapou, but only 300 bodies have been counted so far, The Associated Press reports.

Already, at least 300 bodies have been recovered from Jimani, on the Dominican side of the island.

Hundreds of bodies have been buried in mass graves, with authorities telling families there was no time to identify many of the bodies because they were badly decomposed and posed health risks if moved.

In Haiti, troops from a U.S.-led peacekeeping force flew in drinking water, medical supplies and food to survivors to the town of Fond Verette on Wednesday, where the storm washed out the mountainside road from Port-au-Prince and cut off ground transportation to the town of 40,000.

U.S. marines were going into the completely isolated border region that separateds Haiti from the Dominican Republic, journalist Amy Bracken told CNN.

So many people have lost families and houses there is nothing they can do, says Bracken, with many standing around waiting to be relocated to a safer place.