180,000 stranded in southern China as cold weather returns: report
8 hours ago ~ 18th February 2008
BEIJING (AFP) — Freezing weather has again swept through southern China, leaving 180,000 people stranded and causing power outages, just as the region was recovering from the last cold snap, state press said Monday.
The latest cold weather has taken a severe toll in mountainous Yunnan province, where heavy snowfalls since Thursday have caused huge problems, the China Daily said.
Eighty percent of the two million residents in Qujing city remain without electricity due to the combined impacts of the most recent cold snap and the ferocious weather that first hit southern China in early January.
The snowfalls over the past few days have also blocked 14,000 kilometres (8,700 miles) of roads in Yunnan, a prime reason behind the large number of people stranded, the China Daily said, citing provincial transport authorities.
In Qujing, the second biggest city in Yunnan, six highways have been closed while 42 bus routes have been cancelled, according to the paper.
Yunnan was one of the areas hit hard by the cold snap in January and early February, which was the worst winter weather seen in the region in more than 50 years.The weather led to the deaths of at least 107 people and caused more than 15 billion dollars in economic losses, according to official figures released last week.
Ice and snowfalls crippled power and transport networks, with authorities admitting they were unprepared for the ferocity of the weather.
