The country's snow-ravaged regions are gradually recovering from
widespread blackouts caused by the cold, latest official figures
have showed.
As of Saturday, the Southern Power Grid has lifted 23.28 million
people from darkness, accounting for 88.9 percent of the total
number suffering from the power outages, statistics from the
disaster relief and emergency command center under the State
Council showed.
The State Grid Corporation of China has also restored 14,200
power transmission lines, or 92.9 percent of the total amount
damaged, the center said.
A total of 802 transformer substations have resumed operations,
representing 97.1 percent of the number disrupted by the severe
weather.
All villages and counties in Zhejiang and Guizhou Provinces have
had power restored as of Saturday afternoon, officials said.
Similarly, 91.8 percent of Hunan's power transmission lines
paralyzed by the snowstorm have been restored. Jiangxi has had 91.5
percent of its lines restored.
The blizzards, the worst in five decades, have claimed 107 lives
and caused 111.1 billion yuan ($15.45 billion) in direct economic
losses.
In all, 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have
been affected in the past month.
The State Disaster Relief Commission and the Ministry of Civil
Affairs has canceled states of emergency in seven provinces hit by
the cold as of Friday .
"Currently, the Spring Festival traffic peak and power grid
reconstruction is going on smoothly, and the shortage of coal
supply for power plants has been eased," the special command under
the State Council for relief of the disaster said on Saturday.
The situation in the seven southern regions of Hunan, Hubei,
Anhui, Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi and Jiangxi, have gradually
returned to normal, the center said.
By 4:00 pm on Friday, traffic on major national highways
previously closed because of the cold had resumed.
Li Pumin, spokesman for the special command, said priority
should be given to the reconstruction of infrastructure facilities
so as to restore agricultural and industrial production, as well as
return the lives of disaster-hit residents back to normal.
In a related development, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of
China had deployed 729,000 soldiers by 6:00 pm on Thursday to
combat the month-long winter storms in the southern parts of the
country, a military source said.
About 1.96 million militia and army reservists participated in
the relief efforts, said the PLA's emergency response group. The
PLA currently has 2.3 million troops.
On Feb 14 alone, 35,189 military personnel and 64,159 militia
and army reservists were sent to assist disaster relief
efforts.
Soldiers reportedly resorted to uncommon measures including
shooting power lines with submachine guns to shatter icicles and
driving tanks to crush ice on roads.
Military vehicles such as field kitchen trucks and armored cars
played an important role in de-icing and rescue missions, official
said.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency, February 18,
2008)