Heavy snow has affected the lives of 1.21 million people in east
China's Anhui Province, causing a direct economic loss of 210
million yuan (US$29 million), the provincial department of civil
affairs said on Sunday.
Several storehouses were
damaged due to heavy snow in Heifei, capital city of east China's
Anhui Province on?January 19, 2008.
The snow started to hit the areas of Anqing, Lu'an, Hefei and
others on Jan. 12, affecting 1.21 million people and damaging
87,000 hectares of farmland. Total crop failure was 6,700 hectares,
according to a department official.
Yuexi County in the capital Hefei saw its biggest ever snowfall
with the maximum depth exceeding 50 centimeters. Traffic was
blocked, while power supply and phone lines were cut off
temporarily in some towns and villages.
A total of 1,033 houses in the province were toppled by snow.
Initial estimates show the snow had caused direct economic loss of
210 million yuan, including 164 million yuan in the agricultural
sector.
On Sunday, nearly 400 workers were repairing four power
transmission towers that were toppled in the Dabieshan mountains.
The towers were part of a major cable sending electricity from the
Three Gorges Project to Shanghai, sources with the State Grid
Corporation said.
The towers were crushed on Friday by thick ice measuring 60
millimeters. They were designed to allow no more than 10 mm of ice
in an area that seldom sees such heavy snow.
The sources said the Three Gorges power had been rerouted via
other lines to its destination. The repair of the towers is
expected to take eight days.
A local meteorologist said the snow would continue until
Thursday.
Several storehouses were
damaged due to heavy snow in Heifei, capital city of east China's
Anhui Province on?January 19, 2008.
(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2008)
