Blackouts continue in weather crisis

2008-02-03 23:55:09 Xinhua English

A main street in Chenzhou, Central China's Hunan Province is seen during a blackout on Feb. 2, 2008. Snow and sleet have severely damaged the power facilities around the city since mid-January and the electricity crisis has caused major disruptions to people days before the Chinese Spring Festival. (Xinhua Photo)

Xia Jiatao (R) has supper with his family by candlelight during a blackout in Chenzhou, Central China's Hunan Province on Feb. 2, 2008. Snow and sleet have severely damaged the power facilities around the city since mid-January and the electricity crisis has caused major disruptionsto people days before the Chinese Spring Festival. (Xinhua Photo)

Cao Shujian, a primary student, does his homework by candlelight during a blackout in Chenzhou, Central China's Hunan Province on Feb. 2, 2008. Snow and sleet have severely damaged the power facilities around the city since mid-January and the electricity crisis has caused major disruptionsto people days before the Chinese Spring Festival. (Xinhua Photo)

Staff workers of Hunan Grid repair the collapsed high-voltage power transmission tower in Changsha, capital of south China's Hunan Province, Feb. 3, 2008. Over ten thousand working personnels of Hunan Grid were trying their best to restore the provincial power system which is damaged heavily by snowfalls for the past three weeks. (Xinhua Photo)

CHANGSHA, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Electricity has been partially restored in Chenzhou, one of the worst-hit cities currently suffering the heavy snow that has hit much of China for nearly three weeks, a local disaster relief official said on Sunday.

The central Hunan Province city, home to 4 million people, has been without electricity and running water for over a week because of the severe snow that had damaged power facilities and burst water pipes.

"Although we are busy maintaining some damaged utility poles, more have been falling under the weight of the snow and ice. This has made power resumption still more difficult," said Xu Yun, a Hunan Provincial Power Company official.

A 220 kilovolts utility tower fell on Saturday in the city, halting the maintenance and engineering work.

Liu Zhenya, general manager of the State Grid Corporation of China, said the maintenance of the Chenzhou section grid should be viewed as a critical project so the city's power could be resumed as soon as possible.

Residents were struggling with darkness and cold. Prices of candles and coal balls, for illumination and heating, respectively, have soared.

A new round of snow started to hit the country's central, southern and eastern areas on Friday, adding to the woes caused by previous snowfalls.

Hunan has been one of the hardest-hit areas over the past three weeks.

Blackouts continue in weather crisis

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