Wed, November 18, 2009
The snowstorm that swept the capital of Jiangsu Province in recent days continued to be a challenge for the city's emergency response services on Tuesday.
Residents in Nanjing, which had 10 million people, had to walk several kilometers through the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge Monday during severe traffic jams caused by the city's first snowstorm.
"It's the coldest day of my life. The snow worsened the traffic. The government should strengthen its ability to deal with natural disasters," Peng Peng, a postgraduate in economics at Nanjing University, told the Global Times yesterday.
A number of workers in the city booked hotel rooms to avoid being trapped, the China News Service said.
Yu, an employee of Jinjiang Inn Hotel, told the Global Times yesterday that there was a jump in guest number after the snowstorm.
The snow created low visibility that threatened traffic safety, raising the number of accident victims, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Nanjing First Hospital and the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School received 50 percent more patients.
The snowfall was estimated to be at least 10 centimeters deep, according the Jiangsu Provincial Meteorological Observatory.
Heavy snow has affected more than 1 million people in eastern and central China starting Monday. It has also caused an economic loss of 2.6 billion yuan ($380 million) in the agricultural sector.
Central China's Wuhan cut off natural gas supply to 76 companies due to increasing energy demand.
