Garbage has been piled up on the streets of New York for nearly a week after a blizzard hit the northeastern part of the United States on Dec 30. The city's sanitation workers had a hell of job to tackle the garbage after days of hard work to clear the streets of thick snow.

Although Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked for patience and pledged swift action, the news media have relentlessly criticized Bloomberg and his team for their inability to deal with the snowstorm in a timely manner.

For days, pedestrians had to wade through water to cross the streets. Of course, that was nothing compared to the plight of residents in some parts of the city, who did not see a snowplow for five days after the storm. A leukemia patient missed his appointment for treatment; it took one woman in labor three hours to reach a hospital.

Complaints about the snow were soon replaced by grievances about the garbage. Local TV news channels showed how bags of garbage in front of some restaurants, including those in Chinatown, were scaring off tourists and residents alike.

It is frightening that an extreme weather event, such as this snowstorm, can catch a city like New York unprepared.

The same sort of thing happens in Beijing. On a December afternoon 10 years ago, thousands of commuters were stranded for hours on the ring roads as a result of a snowstorm which left a few centimeters of snow over a five-hour period.

Four years ago, a summer downpour again brought Beijing to a standstill. The rain submerged several major roads; traffic near the Capital International Airport and on some ring roads stood still for hours.

These days, whenever snow or heavy rain is forecast in Beijing, police and sanitation officials prepare for the worst so as to reduce the effect on the lives of residents.