WUHAN/NANJING/HEFEI: The first snow of the new year, which began hitting China on Wednesday, has continued to affect life and traffic in the country.
As of Saturday afternoon, the snow had killed one person and affected more than 510,000 people in central China’s Hubei Province, according to the provincial civil affairs bureau.
It said that the snow had forced relocation of 682 people, flattened 286 houses, damaged 826 houses and about 31,380 hectares of crops, causing a total economic losses of 723 million yuan (111.4 million US dollars).
In cities including Xiangyang and Suizhou, a record 30 cm of snow was seen on Friday night.
In Jiangsu Province, 13 sections of expressways remained closed due to wet and slippery conditions, the provincial transport department said.
In the neighboring Anhui Province, 51 scenic spots in nine cities were also shut due to safety concerns, the provincial tourism authority said.
According to the provincial government on Friday, the worst snowstorms since 2008 have killed 13 people, causing direct economic losses of 1.26 billion yuan (190 million US dollars) and 790 million yuan of losses in agriculture.
In addition to Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu, the provinces of Henan, Hunan and Shaanxi in central and northern China have all suffered from heavy snow this week. On Friday, China warned of a wave of snow and sleet hitting northern, central and eastern parts after record snowfall paralyzed parts of the country in the most severe weather this winter.
Heavy snowfall has wreaked havoc in central and eastern China since Tuesday, killing 10 people and disrupting the lives of more than half a million people in five provinces, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Agriculture has also been hit, with economic losses amounting to 510 million yuan ($79 million) so far. The National Meteorological Centre lifted a blizzard alert, but said light to moderate snowfall was expected to sweep across much of the north between Friday and Sunday.
Snow has disrupted public transport and energy supplies, damaged power lines and shut roads, airports and schools in parts of central China.
All power in Suizhou, a small city of 2.5 million people in the north of central Hubei province, was down due to heavy snow, state broadcaster China Central Television reported. Temperatures in Suizhou are expected to plunge as low as minus 5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday.
Published in Daily Times, January 8th 2017.