紐時賞析／曾為生機 季風帶給巴基斯坦死亡

Once a Source of Life and Renewal, Monsoon Brings Death to Pakistan

曾為生機 季風帶給巴基斯坦死亡

Walking to his local mosque in northern Pakistan, Abdul Samad cast worried looks at a stream he had never seen so agitated and choked with debris. When he stepped outside again 10 minutes later, the mountain village that was his lifelong home had been nearly erased.

走在前往巴基斯坦北部當地清真寺的道路上，薩瑪德憂心忡忡地望著一條他從未見過如此洶湧、被碎石塞滿的小溪。當他10分鐘後再次走出家門時，他一生居住的山村幾乎被夷為平地。

Swollen by pummeling rainfall, the stream had turned into a roaring torrent that swept mud, rocks and fallen trees through the village of Beshonai on Friday, crushing, burying or washing away everything in its path. Out of 210 homes, only 25 remain standing, according to local officials.

因猛烈降雨而暴漲的溪流，化作轟鳴的洪流，夾帶著泥土、岩石與倒下的樹木，周五橫掃貝紹奈村，碾壓、掩埋或沖走路上的一切。地方官員說，村裡210戶人家，僅剩25戶仍屹立。

“Houses, fields of maize — everything was gone,” said Samad, an imam in his mid-40s. His wife and daughter were swept away with the family home and killed.

40多歲的伊瑪目薩瑪德說：「房子、玉米田……什麼都沒了。」他的妻女連同家宅一起被沖走並罹難。

The monsoon season, once revered as a source of life and renewal, has brought death and devastation across large parts of Pakistan, a South Asian nation of 250 million people. Monsoons have killed more than 900 people nationwide since the season began in late June. This increasingly frequent pattern is forcing Pakistan to reckon with a new reality: Destruction brought by extreme weather has become the norm, not the exception.

曾被尊為生命與復興之源的季風，如今為人口2.5億的南亞國家巴基斯坦大部分地區帶來死亡與破壞。6月底季節季風開始以來，全國已超過900人喪命。這種日益頻繁的模式迫使巴基斯坦正視新現實：極端氣候帶來破壞已是常態，而非例外。

Beshonai, in Buner district, is one of dozens of northern villages devastated by rains so heavy and sudden that flash flooding caught officials and communities off guard.

位於布內爾縣的貝紹奈村是巴國北部數十座村莊之一，為突如其來的暴雨所摧毀，洪水讓官員與社區猝不及防。

The highest toll has been recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan, where flooding has killed at least 365 people since Thursday. Buner district suffered the worst devastation, with at least 225 confirmed deaths.

與阿富汗接壤的開柏普赫圖赫瓦省則創下最高傷亡紀錄，自周四以來洪水在當地已奪去至少365人的性命。布納縣災情最為嚴重，已確認至少225人死亡。

Pakistan’s troubles redoubled Tuesday, as floodwaters flowed southward, inundating more areas. The port city of Karachi, the country’s economic hub with more than 20 million people, was paralyzed, as residents waded through water that was shoulder-deep in some streets.

周二，隨著洪水向南流動，淹沒更多地區，巴基斯坦的困境加倍惡化。這個擁有逾2000萬人的經濟樞紐港市喀拉蚩陷入癱瘓，居民涉水而行，部分街道水深及肩。

The floods are the most devastating Pakistan has endured since 2022, when record monsoon rains killed 1,700 people and submerged a third of the country.

這場洪水是巴基斯坦自2022年以來遇過最嚴重的洪災，當時破紀錄的季風降雨造成1700人死亡，三分之一的國土遭淹沒。

The country’s authorities have faced growing criticism for not doing enough to save lives. Critics say they have let deforestation go unchecked, worsening the impact of floods, and have failed to create effective early warning systems.

巴國當局因未能採取足夠措施拯救生命而面臨愈來愈多的抨擊。批評人士說，他們任由森林濫伐，惡化洪水影響，並且未能建立有效的預警系統。

Pakistan’s disaster management officials said they sent all the early warnings they could. But many areas have scant access to the internet, and in Beshonai and other places, people said the warnings from local mosques and police stations came late.

巴基斯坦災害管理官員說，其已盡力發布所有預警。但許多地區網路連線不足，在貝紹奈等地，人們說清真寺與警局的預警來得太晚。

文／Zia ur-Rehman and Elian Peltier，譯／江昱蓁

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【張佑生】

台灣國際新聞向來偏重美歐，周報本期介紹南亞的季風季節（monsoon season），印度、巴基斯坦、孟加拉每逢夏季都會經歷，隨季節改變風向的風系，通常帶來大量降雨，6至9月降雨最多。有如兩面刃：既是農業用水來源，支持稻作與其他作物；然而降雨過量引發洪災、山崩，造成生命財產損失。

報導出現pummeling rainfall，pummel的原意是揮拳猛捶，拳如雨下，也有比喻的用法：She pummeled her opponents.是「痛批」的意思，不見得是真的狂毆。

天有不測風雲，各國對於豪大雨、地震等天災都努力建置預警系統（early warning system），爭取逃命時間。軍事上有類似的應用，代表是空中預警機（Airborne Warning and Control System），縮寫是AWACS。

報導使用inundate描述許多地區遭到淹沒，比喻用法指同一時間湧入太大數量，應接不暇：Hundreds of letters inundated  the office.常用被動式，介係詞with：The office was inundated with calls/letters.。