China's transportation system, which has been paralyzed by the
worst snowy weather in half a century, glimpsed an encouraging sign
on Sunday with the reports of less cancelled flights and more
resumed trains and buses.
There was a notable drop in the number of flights being
cancelled on Sunday in east China, according to local sources.
An official from East China Branch of the General Administration
of Civil Aviation of China said there were still plenty of flight
delays, but cancellations on Sunday were fewer than those on
Saturday.
Between 2 p.m. Saturday to 2 p.m. Sunday, for instance, among
2,338 scheduled flights at airports in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui,
Jiangxi and Shanghai, 1,022 were delayed, but only 261 were
cancelled.
In the meantime, more trains were resumed and highways reopened
in the region.
Shanghai Railway Station transported 795,000 passengers on
Saturday alone, a record high. It was estimated that about 110,000
passengers left Shanghai by road on Sunday.
The snow, the heaviest in decades in many places, has been
falling in China's eastern, central and southern regions for about
three weeks. It has caused deaths, structural collapses, blackouts,
accidents, transport problems and livestock and crop
destruction.
The snow havoc has hit 19 provinces, municipalities and
autonomous regions, toppled 223,000 houses and damaged another
862,000, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The ministry said that nearly 7.8 million people had been
affected and at least 60 people had been killed in the
snow-triggered disasters.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China has, so far,
deployed 306,000 soldiers to combat the worst winter storm in five
decades.
About 1.07 million militia and army reservists were also
participating in the relief efforts.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2008)