Heavy snow since Monday has crippled parts of central China's Hubei Province, disrupting the lives of 878,000 people and causing 1,002 houses to collapse, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

 

 

By 8 AM Tuesday the depth of snow in ten seriously affected cities and counties in southeast Hubei, including provincial capital Wuhan, was five to ten centimeters. In some mountainous regions it was 30 centimeters.

 

Two people in the Yingshan County were seriously injured in weather related incidents and taken to hospital. No information about their conditions was available. ?

 

A further 2,424 houses were reportedly damaged in the snow and many roads were closed, communication networks down and power supplies disrupted. The government of Wuhan has allocated 1.7 million yuan (US$210,000) for reparations.

 

The snow is now easing, according to local sources.

 

 

 

 

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2007)