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Winter storms paralyse China
30/01/2008 10:20 - (SA)
Guangzhou - China struggled on Wednesday to cope with its worst winter storms in five decades, with transportation snarled and cities paralysed, and more bad weather forecast.
Snow and ice storms have struck east, central and southern China for more than two weeks, causing dozens of deaths, collapsing buildings and forcing the closure of highways and airports.
The China Meteorological Administration said the bad weather, including more snow, was expected to continue for at least the next three days in parts of eastern and southern China.
"Guizhou, Jiangsu and Shandong have suffered their worst snowfalls in 50 years," the administration said. For other provinces, such as Hunan and Shaanxi, it was the worst in 20 years.
The accumulated snowfall in some of the areas is not that much, but governments, businesses and residents in those areas do not have the equipment or experience to deal with it.
Power disruptions
The weather also has taxed power systems and disrupted shipments of coal needed to power electricity plants.
The official Xinhua News Agency said on Wednesday that the weather had caused new power disruptions in southwest Guizhou and eastern Jiangxi provinces even as similar problems were sorted out in central Hunan province. The new disruptions hampered the recovery of rail transport, Xinhua said.
The government said it was trying to get a handle on the situation, with President Hu Jintao chairing an emergency meeting and Premier Wen Jiabao visiting several provinces.
The streak of bad weather hit as tens of millions of Chinese were on the move for Chinese New Year - one of the world's biggest annual mass movements of humanity.
Before the storms, railway officials estimated a record 178.6 million people - more than the population of Russia - would travel by train for the holiday, which begins on February 7.
But with trains cancelled due to the weather, hundreds of thousands were stranded at railway stations.
The worst-hit were migrant workers trying to leave booming southern Guangdong province - often called the world's factory floor because it makes everything from Honda sedans to Apple iPods and Nike sneakers.
- AP
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