China works to limit snow-inflicted chaos ahead of Spring Festival

MAINTAINING SOCIAL ORDER

Firemen tried to rescue the trapped people out of the collapsed market house in Chaohu, east China's Anhui Province. A 3000-square-meter market of farm products was weighed down by heavy snow Saturday, leaving 8 people trapped in ruins. All of stucked victims were rescued several hours later. (Xinhua Photo)

The snow, the heaviest in a decade in many places, has been falling in east, central and south China since Jan. 12, causing deaths, structural collapses, power blackouts, highway closures and crop destruction.

Hunan Province and the western Guizhou Province have been the worst hit by the unprecedented spell of severe weather.

The Public Security Bureau of Hunan has sent daily text warnings to the province's more than 1 million drivers and information on road conditions was being broadcast around the clock.

In Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu Province, the accumulated snow reached a record 36 centimeters. About 250,000 people went out to clear the snow on Monday, answering a government call made on Sunday.

In the industrial city of Wuhan, in central China, 56 energy-intensive enterprises were required to cut power consumption. It is expected that 240,000 kw of electricity would be saved in that way to meet the power demand of 120,000 households. Further power control measures could be imposed if necessary.