Chapter 1

I SURVIVED THE JOPLIN TORNADO, 2011

我在2011年乔普林龙卷风中幸存了下来

CHAPTER 1 SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011 5:42 P.M. JOPLIN, MISSOURI A monster EF-5 tornado was destroying the city of Joplin, Missouri. And eleven-year-old Dexter James was in its killer grip. The tornado had snuck up on the city, hiding behind a wall of storm clouds. Few knew it was coming. And nobody imagined that within minutes, it would kill 158 people and destroy much of the city.

第一章2011年5月22日星期日下午5:42 一场巨大的EF-5龙卷风摧毁了密苏里州的乔普林市。 11岁的德克斯特·詹姆斯被它紧紧抓住。 龙卷风躲在暴风云的墙后，悄悄逼近了这座城市。 几乎没有人知道它会来。没有人想到，在几分钟内，它就杀死了158人，摧毁了这座城市的大部分地区。

In the hours before, Joplin had hummed with happy life. Cheers rose up from Little League fields. Gardens bloomed with roses and wild strawberries. Churches echoed with prayers and hymns. It was a typical Sunday afternoon. Until the day turned dark and the wind began to howl. And then the sky exploded like a bomb. The tornado was three-quarters of a mile wide, with winds that topped 200 miles per hour. It swept away houses and blasted the wreckage thousands of feet into the sky. It tore apart schools and sent stores crashing down on the people inside. Cars flew through the air. Trucks turned into missiles. Century-old trees were ripped from the ground. The tornado sirens wailed. People rushed to their basements and huddled in bathtubs as their houses collapsed on top of them. Parents gripped their children as cruel winds

在这之前的几个小时里，乔普林还沉浸在幸福的生活中。 欢呼声从少年棒球联盟的赛场上响起。 花园里开满了玫瑰和野草莓。 教堂里回荡着祈祷和赞美诗。 这是一个典型的周日下午。 直到天黑了，风开始呼啸。 然后天空像炸弹一样爆炸了。 龙卷风宽四分之三英里，风速高达每小时200英里。 它冲走了房屋，并将残骸炸向数千英尺高的天空。 它摧毁了学校，把商店砸向里面的人。 汽车在空中飞驰。 卡车变成了导弹。 百年古树被连根拔起。 龙卷风警报在哀号。 人们冲进地下室，蜷缩在浴缸里，因为他们的房子倒塌了。 父母像狂风一样紧紧抓住孩子

tried to tear them away. In minutes, entire neighborhoods lay in ruins. Dex was in an SUV when the tornado hit, and now he was trapped. The ferocious winds roared and sent tree limbs and rocks smashing against the SUV. And then, Smash! A window shattered. The tornado's fury blasted into the SUV. Dex was attacked by swirling winds filled with bits of wood and metal and glass. The pain was like being stung by thousands of scorpions, over and over again. And then the wind grabbed hold of Dex. It wrapped around him like invisible tentacles, pulling him toward the open window. Dex had always wanted to see a tornado for real. And now here it was — the evil, swirling darkness.

试图把它们撕掉。几分钟内，整个社区都变成了废墟。 龙卷风来袭时，德克斯在一辆越野车里，现在他被困住了。 狂风呼啸，把树枝和岩石吹向SUV。 然后，砰!一扇窗户碎了。 龙卷风猛烈地袭击了SUV。 德克斯受到了充满木屑、金属碎片和玻璃碎片的旋风的袭击。 这种痛苦就像被成千上万的蝎子一次又一次地螫着。 然后风抓住了德克斯。 它像看不见的触手一样缠绕着他，把他拉向敞开的窗户。 德克斯一直想亲眼看看龙卷风。 现在它来了——邪恶的、旋转的黑暗。

Dex was being sucked into the tornado, and he knew there could be no escape.

德克斯被卷进了龙卷风里，他知道自己逃不掉了。