The ****trait of an "Olympic Host" in Distress -- Severe Winter Storms
Persist in China; Fuel and Food Are Short/NYTimes
The New York Times
February 2, 2008
Severe Winter Storms Persist in China; Fuel and Food Are Short
By REUTERS
GUANGZHOU, China (Reuters) ¡ª Millions of Chinese faced a humanitarian
crisis on Friday as gasoline and food reserves dwindled and yet more bad
weather was forecast for a country paralyzed by record-breaking cold and
snow.
More than 160 counties and cities in central China suffered blackouts
and water shortages, the Xinhua news agency said, including Chenzhou, in
Hunan Province, a city of four million that has been without power and
water for more than a week.
¡°Many trees are severed and power lines have collapsed,¡± a Chenzhou
hotel worker said by telephone. ¡°It¡¯s like we have experienced an air
raid or lost a battle. It is a complete mess. We are hungry and cold.¡±
Some 250,000 troops had been mobilized as of Friday to help with
disaster relief, Xinhua said, as millions geared up for a cold, dark
Lunar New Year next week.
Stricken areas of south and central China are suffering the worst winter
weather in half a century, with at least 60 people dead in
weather-related accidents.
Premier Wen Jiabao again visited Hunan, with state television showing
pictures of him telling provincial officials to do all they could to
restore power and other services.
Miners are working overtime and coal has been given priority to speed
through the rail network.
¡°Ice on power cables is so thick that it is impossible for the power
cables to carry their weight, and power pylons have collapsed,¡± Zhu
Hongren, an official with the National Development and Reform
Commission, said at a news conference.
State television said Chenzhou¡¯s fuel reserves could last only seven
days and its rice could feed residents for five days. Cooking oil and
vegetables were also running out, with prices surging.
In hard-hit Guizhou Province, prices of gasoline and candles have
quadrupled, with the country already facing its highest inflation in
more than a decade.
Hunan, Guizhou and Jiangxi were all facing fresh storms, and Mr. Zhu
said the extreme weather could last another 10 days.
Some took to Internet bulletin boards to complain that the government
had ignored them, though frustration has so far not boiled over into
large-scale unrest.
Nearly six million passengers have been stranded on trains or in
railroad stations in the past week. For millions of migrant workers,
Lunar New Year is their only chance to see families all year.
On Friday, the railways were creaking back into action, and the key link
between Beijing and Guangzhou had been restored. Numbers of people
waiting in Guangzhou¡¯s station were down by half, from a peak estimated
at 800,000, but that still left hundreds of thousands scrambling to
board delayed trains.
Mr. Zhu, the development official, said the disaster had taken an
economic toll, but added that ¡°underlying fundamentals¡± were still
sound.
¡°If we take a long-term view, such a disaster will be a tem****ary one,
and therefore its impact on the economy will be short-term,¡± he said.
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