More Snow And Ice For China

Conditions in China continue to deteriorate as the brutal winter weather continues. The storms are hitting at the worst possible time, when millions of people are trying to get home to celebrate the Lunar New Year, unfortunate timing that is exacerbating an already bad situation. And the winter weather is not going to get better.

GUANGZHOU, China (AFP) - China warned Saturday the worst was not over in its national weather crisis as desperate holiday travellers jammed transport hubs and others endured bitter winter storms without power or water.
 
Bracing for still more foul weather and an accelerating travel rush, China has doubled the number of troops and paramilitary forces aiding winter storm relief efforts to more than a million, state media reported.

The worst winter in decades has caused massive transport bottlenecks and power outages across wide areas in the lead-up to next week's Lunar New Year, China's biggest annual holiday.

The China Meteorological Administration said some of the worst-affected central, eastern and southern provinces faced several more days of snow and freezing rain from a cold front parked over the region since early January.

"The most difficult period is still not over yet. The situation remains grim," Premier Wen Jiabao said during a Cabinet meeting, the China Daily reported.

China has mobilized more than one million troops, forced coal miners into national service to keep coal flowing and are estimating total damages of more than $7.5 billion dollars so far. There is no end in sight at the moment, either. Rutgers Snow Lab shows that most of China is snow-covered at the moment.