Homes collapse under weight of ice
Source: Xinhua |
January 5, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MORE than 22,800 people had been evacuated from their homes in southwest China's Guizhou Province as of yesterday afternoon after persistent freezing rain in the past few days damaged and even destroyed some homes, local authorities said.
More than 208 homes collapsed as roofs could not bear the weight of accumulated ice after rain froze in sub-zero temperatures, said a spokesman with the provincial emergency response office. The icy rain also damaged 1,455 more roofs.
The freezing weather and sleet also caused highways to become iced-over, leaving thousands stranded in their cars after almost all expressways in the province were closed, the Department of Transport said. But traffic was slowly returning to normal yesterday with all highways reopened after being closed for over 30 hours.
On Saturday, an auxiliary police officer died in a car accident caused by ice on a highway in Guizhou when he was assisting at the scene of another accident.
The lives of more than 1.8 million people in the province have been affected by the freezing weather and icy roads and economic losses have been estimated at 300 million yuan (US$45 million). More than 79,100 hectares of crops have been damaged by the freezing rain.
Weather forecasters say cold and rainy weather will continue to affect the province over the next five days.
In neighboring Chongqing Municipality, low temperatures and heavy snow have wreaked havoc on water supplies to more than 570,000 residents.
More than 755 kilometers of water pipes have frozen or burst in 217 townships after a cold snap hit the region on December 31, officials said.
In worst-hit Qianjiang District, water supplies to more than 12,000 rural households have been cut.
Low temperatures to continue to affect most parts of Chongqing until tomorrow.
In central China's Hunan Province, more than 10,000 people spent their three-day New Year's Day holiday clearing ice-coated highways where thousands of passengers were stranded due to slowed traffic.
The work was continuing yesterday with nearly 2,500 people in some 660 vehicles still stranded along the Kunming-Shanghai expressway in Hunan.
As of yesterday morning, 20 sections of four inter-province expressways and 10 provincial highways were still closed due to ice, said He Dingguang of the highway management administration.
"We have drawn on the experience in 2008 to organize people to clean up the icy roads and prepare emergency supplies," He said.
That year, unprecedented snow and ice coated south China roads left about 100,000 people stranded on the Beijing-Zhuhai expressway in Hunan alone.
Forecasters predict low temperatures will persist until January 12 and more snow will hit the province this Saturday.
Many highways in Guizhou and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have reopened but the local highway authorities are still on guard. Nandan County in Guangxi has prepared emergency supplies worth 2.7 million yuan and four ambulances and 200 police officers are on standby.
More than 208 homes collapsed as roofs could not bear the weight of accumulated ice after rain froze in sub-zero temperatures, said a spokesman with the provincial emergency response office. The icy rain also damaged 1,455 more roofs.
The freezing weather and sleet also caused highways to become iced-over, leaving thousands stranded in their cars after almost all expressways in the province were closed, the Department of Transport said. But traffic was slowly returning to normal yesterday with all highways reopened after being closed for over 30 hours.
On Saturday, an auxiliary police officer died in a car accident caused by ice on a highway in Guizhou when he was assisting at the scene of another accident.
The lives of more than 1.8 million people in the province have been affected by the freezing weather and icy roads and economic losses have been estimated at 300 million yuan (US$45 million). More than 79,100 hectares of crops have been damaged by the freezing rain.
Weather forecasters say cold and rainy weather will continue to affect the province over the next five days.
In neighboring Chongqing Municipality, low temperatures and heavy snow have wreaked havoc on water supplies to more than 570,000 residents.
More than 755 kilometers of water pipes have frozen or burst in 217 townships after a cold snap hit the region on December 31, officials said.
In worst-hit Qianjiang District, water supplies to more than 12,000 rural households have been cut.
Low temperatures to continue to affect most parts of Chongqing until tomorrow.
In central China's Hunan Province, more than 10,000 people spent their three-day New Year's Day holiday clearing ice-coated highways where thousands of passengers were stranded due to slowed traffic.
The work was continuing yesterday with nearly 2,500 people in some 660 vehicles still stranded along the Kunming-Shanghai expressway in Hunan.
As of yesterday morning, 20 sections of four inter-province expressways and 10 provincial highways were still closed due to ice, said He Dingguang of the highway management administration.
"We have drawn on the experience in 2008 to organize people to clean up the icy roads and prepare emergency supplies," He said.
That year, unprecedented snow and ice coated south China roads left about 100,000 people stranded on the Beijing-Zhuhai expressway in Hunan alone.
Forecasters predict low temperatures will persist until January 12 and more snow will hit the province this Saturday.
Many highways in Guizhou and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have reopened but the local highway authorities are still on guard. Nandan County in Guangxi has prepared emergency supplies worth 2.7 million yuan and four ambulances and 200 police officers are on standby.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
