Before Chinese New Year, millions of people's travels are disrupted by snow and ice.
Travel Chaos for Millions as Winter Weather Disrupts Chinese New Year Journeys
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In the intense cold that has swept over portions of the country over the last week, millions of people are making their way home ahead of the Spring Festival vacation. As a result, freezing rain, snow, and ice have delayed traffic in central, eastern, and southern China.
The worst of the bad weather fell over the weekend, causing hundreds of trains to be canceled, planes to be delayed, and slow highway traffic in southern Hunan and central Hubei provinces.
The disturbances occur in tandem with the world's largest mass migration of travelers, as individuals nationwide swarm home to spend the official start of the Chinese New Year vacation on Saturday with their relatives.
Videos posted on Chinese social media in recent days featured people stuck in automobiles and on trains on snow-covered roadways in a number of locations, including Jingzhou, which is south of Hubei.
Social media footage showed people traveling to Wuhan, east of Jingzhou, detained on a train for hours after electricity went out in the bitter cold. Another motorist was stranded in an automobile for three days, according to media source Yicai.
On the social networking site Weibo, a user bemoaned, "This weather in Wuhan can drive you crazy. You have to walk 20,000 steps every day to get to work, and then you get home and the power goes out because the wires are down."
Numerous trains in Wuhan had delays or cancellations, leaving large numbers of passengers stuck at railway stations, according to local media. Tuesday, state television CCTV reported that the runways at Wuhan's Tianhe Airport were briefly blocked.
Images from the China Meteorological Administration showed frozen rain causing shattered trees to be strewn along highways in Hunan. Beijing News reported that approximately 129 highway sections were stopped in 10 regions.
Snow-related incidents have claimed the lives of at least two persons. According to accounts from official media, awnings in farmers markets fell under the weight of heavy snow, killing one person in Hubei and one in Hunan.
Thick quilts were among the 20,000 disaster relief supplies that China's Ministry of Emergency Management and two other government agencies provided to Hunan, according to the China Daily.
China National Emergency Broadcasting states that more severe weather is predicted for a few days. Weather advisories and emergency response protocols were updated in a number of cities.
According to official media, provinces, including Hubei, are removing ice from power cables. Hubei authorities reported that they were cleaning out choke points caused by heavy ice from tunnels and bridges.
Hundreds of highway toll booths have received orders from the province to impose traffic management measures, such as allowing free passage for cars.
A total of 141 million yuan ($19.6 million) was provided by China's ministries of finance and transportation to assist 11 provinces and municipalities with the removal of snow and ice from their highways.
The first part of this week in the south is expected to bring more rain, snow, and freezing temperatures, according to China's Central Meteorological Observatory. However, conditions are expected to improve starting on Thursday.
