Heavy snows of up to 1 meter have stranded 220,000 people in
northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, cutting off
traffic and communications.
Winds from Siberia also caused temperatures to drop sharply to
minus 43 Celsius in some areas.
Altogether lives of more than 620,000 people have been affected
and 9,234 head of livestock were killed, Xinjiang Daily
reported.
About 100,000 people have also been forced to leave their homes
because of the snow.
?A week-long blizzard that started December 29 also toppled
houses, especially in the northern parts of the region, said Qu
Songlin, an official with the region's civil affair bureau.
About 6,000 people suffered from various diseases, and 300,000
head of livestock face starvation, he said. There have been no
reports on human casualties. Disaster relief efforts are under
way.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs has also sent officials to the
region to supervise relief efforts, a ministry official surnamed
Zhang said on Friday.
The top priority is to resume traffic and transportation, said
Wang Zhenyao, another disaster relief official with the ministry.
Providing adequate clothing and enough food for those affected is
also high on the agenda.
Among the hardest hit communities are Fuyun, Qinghe, Altay,
Habahe and Buerjin in northern Xinjiang, Wang said.
The local government in Altay has allocated 1.7 million yuan
(US$210,000) in disaster relief, Xinjiang Daily
reported.
He Lifu, a forecaster with the Central Meteorological Office,
said no heavy snow is forecast for the region in the coming
week.
Winter is usually a harsh season for Xinjiang's 19.6 million
people.
Meteorologists had predicted that China would experience its
coldest winter since 1986, reports said.
?
(China Daily January 7, 2006)
