J
JakTheHammer
Guest
Yup........I'll bet them Chinese are Praying for some "Global Warming"
right now..........Donchaknow.............
"Millions still stranded in China despite transport resuming
Feb 1 08:19 AM US/Eastern
(AFP) China's gridlocked transport system rumbled back to life Friday
but millions of angry travellers remained stranded all around the
country, unable to return home for annual holidays.
Passengers began to flow out of airports, train stations and bus
depots but it was nowhere near enough to clear a massive backlog of
travellers stranded for days after the worst winter in five decades
hit at the busiest time of year.
The Lunar New Year, China's biggest annual holiday, begins on February
7 and the government said 180 million people head home to be with
their families in what is thought to be the largest annual human
migration in the world.
On Friday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao returned to badly hit Hunan
province for the second time this week and again berated officials to
step up efforts to clear roads and get electricity back on line.
"To clear the roads means to ensure that the main railways and
highways are opened, to ensure electricity means to repair damaged
power lines as soon as possible," Wen was seen on state television as
saying.
"To comfort the public means to ensure the livelihood of the people,
especially to make sure that those people stranded or delayed are
provided with food, warmth and access to medical services."
He also ordered top leaders to "the frontlines of the disaster,"
calling relief efforts a "time to test the will, the determination and
the abilities of our officials."
Weeks of heavy snow and icy conditions have caused 7.5 billion
dollars' worth of damage, Zhu Hongren, an official with China's main
economic policy agency, told a press conference.
"Such a disaster has been unprecedented in terms of the large scale
and the large areas affected. We are in a tough battle to ensure the
safety of people and property and ensure economic stability," said
Zhu, who is coordinating several ministries on response efforts.
Millions of migrant workers still trying to get home on Friday faced
either more waiting or the prospect of a holiday away from loved ones,
despite transport woes apparently easing slightly.
In Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province, 500,000
people were waiting to leave airports and train and bus stations,
according to media reports. As the numbers grew at transport hubs in
other parts of the country, local authorities were forced to beef up
security to keep order.
The China Meteorological Administration said several of the worst
affected provinces in central, eastern and southern China were in for
further snowstorms and freezing rain this weekend.
About 11.2 million workers in Guangdong had given up hope of returning
for next week's holiday -- often the only bright spot in a year of
hard work for low pay -- due to the massive traffic snarls, officials
there said.
"I've waited three days here already and it looks like I may not be
able to get home in time for the Lunar New Year," said a migrant
worker outside Guangzhou's main train station.
"I don't think it is fair the way they have handled this situation."
Only travellers with tickets for Friday departures were allowed to
board. Those whose trains were cancelled earlier would have to wait
until February 6 before they could repurchase tickets, travellers and
press reports said.
Continued road disruptions were also expected as persistent freezing
rain confounded efforts to de-ice highways, the official Xinhua news
agency said.
The government also faces the challenge of restoring food and energy
supplies to large areas at a time when output typically falls due to
the holidays.
Damage to crops across several provinces has further stoked already
high food prices -- a sensitive topic for the government due to
inflation's potential for triggering unrest in China.
Zhu and other officials deflected suggestions that the government was
insufficiently prepared, implying there was no way to get ready for
such ferocious weather.
But residents of hard-hit areas expressed anger.
"The government should have prepared for such situations earlier," Li
Xiangxiang, 23, told AFP as she picked over suddenly scarce vegetables
at a market in Hunan's capital, Changsha. "I think the government just
wasn't ready."
President Hu Jintao visited a coal mine in northern Shanxi province
late Thursday, urging miners to increase production to head off the
country's worst power crisis in memory.
Officials said Friday the number of train cars used to carry coal to
power plants would be raised to an all-time high of 40,000 per day
amid reports the nation's stockpile of coal for power generation had
dropped to a six-day supply.
The transport chaos has strangled distribution of coal, the source of
three-quarters of China's energy, causing blackouts in 17 provinces,
according to reports.
The weather has led to the evacuation of 1.76 million people, killed
dozens, and affected at least 105 million people in the country of 1.3
billion, according to official figures.
The freak weather has even blanketed the arid Taklamakan desert in far-
western China with snow, Xinhua said.
"Never before had the whole desert been covered," it said, quoting
local meteorological officials. "
right now..........Donchaknow.............
"Millions still stranded in China despite transport resuming
Feb 1 08:19 AM US/Eastern
(AFP) China's gridlocked transport system rumbled back to life Friday
but millions of angry travellers remained stranded all around the
country, unable to return home for annual holidays.
Passengers began to flow out of airports, train stations and bus
depots but it was nowhere near enough to clear a massive backlog of
travellers stranded for days after the worst winter in five decades
hit at the busiest time of year.
The Lunar New Year, China's biggest annual holiday, begins on February
7 and the government said 180 million people head home to be with
their families in what is thought to be the largest annual human
migration in the world.
On Friday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao returned to badly hit Hunan
province for the second time this week and again berated officials to
step up efforts to clear roads and get electricity back on line.
"To clear the roads means to ensure that the main railways and
highways are opened, to ensure electricity means to repair damaged
power lines as soon as possible," Wen was seen on state television as
saying.
"To comfort the public means to ensure the livelihood of the people,
especially to make sure that those people stranded or delayed are
provided with food, warmth and access to medical services."
He also ordered top leaders to "the frontlines of the disaster,"
calling relief efforts a "time to test the will, the determination and
the abilities of our officials."
Weeks of heavy snow and icy conditions have caused 7.5 billion
dollars' worth of damage, Zhu Hongren, an official with China's main
economic policy agency, told a press conference.
"Such a disaster has been unprecedented in terms of the large scale
and the large areas affected. We are in a tough battle to ensure the
safety of people and property and ensure economic stability," said
Zhu, who is coordinating several ministries on response efforts.
Millions of migrant workers still trying to get home on Friday faced
either more waiting or the prospect of a holiday away from loved ones,
despite transport woes apparently easing slightly.
In Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province, 500,000
people were waiting to leave airports and train and bus stations,
according to media reports. As the numbers grew at transport hubs in
other parts of the country, local authorities were forced to beef up
security to keep order.
The China Meteorological Administration said several of the worst
affected provinces in central, eastern and southern China were in for
further snowstorms and freezing rain this weekend.
About 11.2 million workers in Guangdong had given up hope of returning
for next week's holiday -- often the only bright spot in a year of
hard work for low pay -- due to the massive traffic snarls, officials
there said.
"I've waited three days here already and it looks like I may not be
able to get home in time for the Lunar New Year," said a migrant
worker outside Guangzhou's main train station.
"I don't think it is fair the way they have handled this situation."
Only travellers with tickets for Friday departures were allowed to
board. Those whose trains were cancelled earlier would have to wait
until February 6 before they could repurchase tickets, travellers and
press reports said.
Continued road disruptions were also expected as persistent freezing
rain confounded efforts to de-ice highways, the official Xinhua news
agency said.
The government also faces the challenge of restoring food and energy
supplies to large areas at a time when output typically falls due to
the holidays.
Damage to crops across several provinces has further stoked already
high food prices -- a sensitive topic for the government due to
inflation's potential for triggering unrest in China.
Zhu and other officials deflected suggestions that the government was
insufficiently prepared, implying there was no way to get ready for
such ferocious weather.
But residents of hard-hit areas expressed anger.
"The government should have prepared for such situations earlier," Li
Xiangxiang, 23, told AFP as she picked over suddenly scarce vegetables
at a market in Hunan's capital, Changsha. "I think the government just
wasn't ready."
President Hu Jintao visited a coal mine in northern Shanxi province
late Thursday, urging miners to increase production to head off the
country's worst power crisis in memory.
Officials said Friday the number of train cars used to carry coal to
power plants would be raised to an all-time high of 40,000 per day
amid reports the nation's stockpile of coal for power generation had
dropped to a six-day supply.
The transport chaos has strangled distribution of coal, the source of
three-quarters of China's energy, causing blackouts in 17 provinces,
according to reports.
The weather has led to the evacuation of 1.76 million people, killed
dozens, and affected at least 105 million people in the country of 1.3
billion, according to official figures.
The freak weather has even blanketed the arid Taklamakan desert in far-
western China with snow, Xinhua said.
"Never before had the whole desert been covered," it said, quoting
local meteorological officials. "
oOdnWk9DMvZWD7anZ2dnUVZ_oWdnZ2d@comcast.com...
