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Heavy Rains Trigger Flooding, Mudslides in California; Extreme Heat in Australia; Technology in the Buildings of the Future

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: My name is Carl Azuz.

We`re explaining news happening around the world, starting with evacuations of thousands of people in southern California. Huge parts of this region

had been scorched by wildfires over the past year and a half, and that`s partly responsible for the latest disaster people there are facing.

Mudslides, heavy rains have been falling in places like Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

And because the fires burned away so much vegetation in the area, there are fewer trees and bushes to help prevent floods. So, mud, tree limbs, and

garbage are flowing like rivers, sweeping across busy roads and they`ve wiped several homes off their foundations.

This area is no stranger to mudslides. An official from the National Weather Service says they can be caused by a rainfall rate of a half inch

per hour.

On Tuesday, some parts of southern California got more than three times that in an hour. That`s led authorities to give evacuation warnings or

orders to tens of thousands of people.

One of the alerts from officials in Santa Barbara County said simply, leave debris flow areas now. Go to high ground.

A resident named Benjamin Hyatt who sent CNN these pictures said that two to three feet of mud surrounded his house in an instant, like a dam

breaking. Officials say at least five people have been killed in these storms, and last night, more rain was expected, worsening fears of

flooding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: In the U.S., flash floods kill more people than tornadoes, hurricanes or lightning.

A flash flood creates a rush of moving water that can sweep a grown man off his feet, a car off the road, and even your entire home off its foundation.

When the ground become so saturated that water can no longer seep into the soil, it begins to run off quickly into rivers and streams and this causes a rise in water and a flash.

saturated [ˋsætʃə͵retɪd] adj. 【化】饱和的；渗透的

seep [sip] vi. 滲出；漏

Densely populated areas have an extremely high risk of flash flooding, with the additional concrete and less grassy areas for the water to soak into

the soil, and they can see flash flooding very quickly.

In a mountainous terrain, the combination of gravity, plus the easy runoff can lead to catastrophic flooding, when all of that water is funneled into

the rivers, creeks, and even the valleys.

Remember, flash flooding can happen in the blink of an eye. That`s why it`s so important to stay alert and pay attention in case a flash flood

watch or warning is issued for your area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia.

Which of these scales was named for a Swedish astronomer who lived in the 1700s?

Celsius, Fahrenheit, Saffir-Simpson, or Richter?

The Celsius temperature scale was invented by Anders Celsius in 1742.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: While parts of the U.S. East Coast recently endured record breaking cold, thanks to the bomb cyclone we told you about last week, Sydney,

Australia, the nation`s most populated city, recently sweltered under abnormally high temperatures, 47.3 degree Celsius, which converts to more

swelter [ˋswɛltɚ]  vt. 使热得难受，使热得发昏

than 117 degrees Fahrenheit. It led to warnings about everything, from dehydration and sun exposure, to dangers about potential fires.

It`s not quite a record in the Australian city. That was set in 1939 when temperatures were about one degree higher. But when they dropped on Monday

to what was called a colder 33 degree Celsius or 91 degrees Fahrenheit, that was characterized a relief.

So far today, we`ve discussed fires, floods, mudslides and blast of cold and hot weather. These things are usually taken into account when people

build new homes or developers plan communities. There`s a tremendous list of options for building materials: wood and steel, types of flooring and

climate control, levels of insulation, and there are pros and cons to everything.

pros and cons 利弊； 正反两方面； 优缺点

Next, we`re featuring some materials that could surround us in homes of the future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Our homes of the future may not look different, but how they`re built may be completely new. Building materials

are getting a makeover and companies are rethinking how homes are designed.

makeover [ˋmekovɚ] n. 美容

So, right now, we are essentially in the penthouse? Why isn`t this a fancy apartment?

penthouse [ˋpɛnt͵haʊs] n. 位于建筑物之顶的棚舍；高楼上（尤指顶层）的豪华公寓

For BioMason, innovation means redesigning one of construction`s most popular materials.

And you`re actually tending (ph) then grow the cement, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s right.

CRANE: How do you actually do that?
 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We take bacteria and we put it in our aggregate and grows around each grain of aggregate as cement components. It literally is
 

aggregate [ˋægrɪ͵get] n. 聚集物，聚集体，凝聚体

just using the same organisms that are already doing things similar --

CRANE: In nature.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- in our environment, exactly.

CRANE: Right.

Building the homes of the future may mean planning for catastrophes. Hurricane Sandy devastated New York in 2012. A few weeks later, JDS

Development started planning their newest high rise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we started designing this building right after Hurricane Sandy, we were working with a group of 50 or 60 people that had

all just live through the problem. As we went around the room and we said, what happened to you?

CRANE: They designed a flood proofing measures below the building and installed a fleet of generators where the penthouse would be.

For most buildings, at least in Manhattan don`t do this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, nobody does this. The notion that you can`t leave or that shouldn`t leave or it`s safer in your building than outside is a

relatively new concept.

CRANE: Natural gas powered generators means that residents will have power even if the rest in Manhattan is in the dark.

In the future, smart tech won`t be limited to inside your home. How we`re building is changing, even if you can`t see it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: So, those are some possible future materials. What about the stuff that will go into future homes, specifically, the technology? That`s what

CES is all about, the Consumer Electronics Show.

It`s an annual trade show where technological innovations play the staring role. It`s been going on for more than half a century and this year`s

event is being held in Las Vegas Nevada where almost 4,000 companies are exhibiting their work for the more than 170,000 people in attendance.

Not all of the ideas presented here take off. But they do give us an idea of where manufacturers think technology is headed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The top trends that we`re seeing out here this year: number one, voice assistance. Whether it`s Amazon`s

Alexa or Google`s voice assistant, it seems like every piece of technology here wants to integrate so that they can just have you speaking to control

their devices.

Also, cities planning for a future with fewer drivers. That doesn`t just mean driverless cars. It means that cities are looking for ways so that

stoplights can now that there`s an accident right there, communicate to your self-driving Uber car, that there`s an accident there and that they

stoplight [ˋstɑp͵laɪt] n. 停止行进号志；红色尾灯，煞车灯

need to go a different direction. So, a big ecosystem for the cars and cities to function together.

And plus, sports tech going pro. What does that mean exactly? Well, we`ve seen a lot of wearables come and go. But now, a lot of companies are

looking to get very specific, not just the macro market, but a lot of times, micro markets, just for athletes, just for the elderly.

Now, every year at CES, there`s so much about television. Some years, they lead us astray. 3D televisions, remember that? Well, when was the last

astray [əˋstre] adv. 离开正确的路；迷路；离开正道

time you saw somebody with 3D glasses?

Then, there were curve televisions, but who needs that when you have a television that you can roll up, like a yoga mat? Though I don`t think

you`d be taking this one to a yoga class.

LG Display has this prototype and it is just a prototype, so no price tag right now. They just make screens. They`re hoping that one day, the

actual TV set manufacturers might integrate this technology, so you can have a TV that can just roll up and disappear out of the way in your house.

But it doesn`t never really disappear since there is that box right there where it sits.

LG thinks that maybe you want to see your television at different heights, so you can see what music is playing or the weather at that smaller height.

Then, maybe it goes. But no so tall so you have a wider format, like we`re used to in movie theaters, or maybe just going all the way up and using

your television the way we`re all accustomed to using it now, 16 by 9, just to watch TV shows. Imagine that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AZUZ: Cheesesteaks can help people grow in a number of ways. They can also serve as an entertaining, measuring tool.

A father in Philadelphia once noticed that his dinner was about the same length as his infant son. So, he started tracking his baby`s growth in

relation to the length of a cheesesteak. This has gone on for two years and the boy has significantly outgrown both the size of the steaks, and

having his picture taken with them.

After all, his name is Lucas, not Hoagy. And maybe he`s getting tired of being sandwiched between the camera and meal time or jokes about where`s

the beef? Maybe he`s a budding vegetarian, or may be he just thinks this whole idea is cheesy, even though it`s clearly not a mis-steak.

I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10.

END