STORMS AND TORNADO POUND SOUTHERN US, KILL AT LEAST 4|暴風雨.龍捲風襲美南 加州可望降雪解乾旱

Across southern United States, hail storms and a tornado have led to at least 4 deaths. Meanwhile, snowfall is expected along mountainous areas in California, which many hope would ease a drought that has plagued the Golden State for more than 5 years. On Jan. 2, a heavy storm system pounded Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and the Florida Panhandle in the U.S. with rain, hail and strong winds, causing flooding and widespread power outages. Rehobeth, located in southeast Alabama, suffered the most serious damage from a possible tornado. Four people were killed inside a home struck by a falling tree and power lines. On Jan. 4, residents started to clean up damaged homes and businesses ==JILL CANNON, owner of a flower shop== We were kind of watching and then all of a sudden it was just on top of us, just that fast. The whole building shook and we saw the piece of roof hit my mother's car. ==PATTY HALL, Zoo Director== They were in these cages and the cages were blown into the pond and they were in the water until we could get to them. ==GRANT BROWN, City of Gulf Shores spokesman== We don't know what it was. We don't know if it was a microburst. We don't know if it was a tornado. On Jan. 3, surveyors plunged a pole into the Sierra Nevada snow and took the first manual measurement of the wet season at 1,800 meters near Lake Tahoe. They found that the water content was about half of normal as California faces a possible sixth year of drought. The major cold and windy storms are expected to dump 1.2 to 1.5 meters of snow on Jan.5 in areas above 1,350 meters in Northern and central California. The melting snowpack in spring and summer provides roughly a third of California's water in normal years for drinking, farming and wildlife. What surveyors find between now and Apr.1 will guide state water officials in managing the water supply of the nation's most populous, agriculture-rich state. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 大型暴風雨系統2號挾帶雷陣雨、冰雹與強風，襲擊美國南部阿拉巴馬州，密西西比州，喬治亞州西南部，以及佛羅里達半島，造成多處淹水，停電，受害最嚴重的阿拉巴馬小鎮瑞合貝斯，疑似出現龍捲風，造成房屋損毀，四個待在活動車屋裡的民眾不幸身亡。四號鋒面進入大西洋，風雨停歇，當地商家，甚至動物園，捲起衣袖收拾殘局。 ==花店業者 坎農== 我們本來正在看著風雨 突然間風雨就到我們頭上了 非常的快 整棟房子開始搖晃 然後一片屋頂飛來 擊中我媽媽的車 ==動物園園長 霍爾== 牠們都還在籠子裡 整個籠子被吹進池塘 所以牠們泡在水裡 直到我們能去救援 ==阿拉巴馬州高爾夫岸市發言人 布朗== 我們還不確定這是什麼 我們不知道這是不是微爆 或者是龍捲風 而美國西岸的加州歷經五年乾旱，今年內華達山區的降雪仍然不足，研究人員三號前往海拔1800公尺，太浩湖附近的區域進行這個雨季第一次的積雪測量，含水量只有正常值的五成左右，但四號起當地將有鋒面來襲，預計海拔1350公尺以上的山區，平均能降雪120-150公分。內華達山脈每年春夏融化的雪水，供應了加州1/3的用水，從現在起到四月一號，積雪與濕度逐步增加，是科學家預測今年旱象是否緩解的重要指標。 記者 施慧中 報導