China sends in army to battle snow chaos
BEIJING (AFP) — China dispatched the army Wednesday to help millions of people stranded by intense snowstorms that have brought transport gridlock, crippled power supplies and hindered relief efforts, state media reported.
At least 460,000 troops from the People's Liberation Army and paramilitary forces were to fan out across parts of China afflicted by the worst storms in 50 years which have been blamed for dozens of deaths, various media reported.
"The People's Liberation Army has ordered its troops to go all out to help those battling the heavy snow in the southern part of the country," the China Daily said.
The mobilisations came amid ratcheted up efforts to deal with the punishing weather, which has paralysed the nation's transport system in vast areas.
State-run Xinhua news agency said China was waging "all-out war" against the disaster.
Army helicopters will try to reach areas cut off due to the transport troubles and one million police officers have been deployed to maintain order on congested and icy highways where traffic has ground to a halt, state media reported.
At least 50 deaths have been blamed on the weather which struck as tens of millions of people try to return home for the Lunar New Year festival, the nation's most important holiday.
A total of 78 million people across large parts of central, southern and eastern China have been affected in some way by the weather, the government has said.
Premier Wen Jiabao travelled to hard-hit Hunan province on Tuesday to discuss relief efforts with local leaders.
But the national meteorological bureau said Wednesday that heavy snow and icy conditions would persist for several more days, further compounding efforts to help the needy.
"Dealing with the current disaster is more complicated than floods, because freezing weather has restricted the mobility of relief forces and most of the affected areas are in mountainous areas," Wang Zhenyao, director of disaster relief for the Civil Affairs Ministry, was quoted by the China Daily as saying.
The newspaper warned in an editorial that many areas might not even receive basic necessities.
"With much of the transport web disrupted, it will be difficult to have relief materials delivered where they are most needed," it said. "We will have to prepare for a worst-case scenario."
Police reinforcements were deployed in many train stations across the affected region as tense crowds waited for train service to resume.
The big freeze has sharply raised demand for coal while also crimping distribution, exacerbating an existing reduction in coal output due to the closure of illegal mines and a traditional pre-holiday slowdown.
Rolling blackouts would continue in affected regions on Wednesday as local electricity producers ration supply amid the coal shortage and numerous downed power lines, media reports said.
On Sunday, Wen ordered all levels of government to prioritise coal supplies to power plants and eliminate all but essential electricity use.
