Since the New Year, parts of southwestern China have been continuously hit by cold spells, seriously affecting the lives of residents in five provinces and municipalities including Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hunan, Chongqing, and Sichuan. Not only are people short of water and electricity, but large numbers of vehicles and passengers are stranded on highways. Disrupted transportation has caused vegetable prices to rise in some areas; the price of cabbage in Guangxi has increased by over 150%. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs' website, as of 5 p.m. the day before yesterday, the cold wave and snow disaster in these five provinces and municipalities had affected more than 3.83 million people, resulting in one death, with 58,000 people urgently relocated. The direct economic loss amounted to 13.5 billion yuan (approximately 2.6311 billion Singapore dollars). More than 142,400 hectares of farmland were damaged by rain and snow, with a total area of 11,800 hectares completely lost. In addition, over 1,200 houses collapsed and more than 6,600 buildings were damaged. According to the latest weather forecast, the low temperature and freezing weather in Guizhou and Hunan will continue for a while, especially in the next few days when Guizhou, Hunan, and Chongqing will experience another round of cooling and freezing rain. The worst-hit province, Guizhou, has experienced continuous freezing rain in most areas, affecting 1.6 million people with direct economic losses reaching 70 million yuan. Freezing weather once disrupted traffic in the province, temporarily closing airports and most highways since January 1st, which were gradually reopened only yesterday. A bus traveling from Chengdu to Shenzhen took three days through Guizhou, and many inter-provincial routes were suspended. Severely impacted logistics also caused some commodity prices to rise. Due to icy roads in Guizhou, vegetable supplies in Chongqing experienced partial shortages. Three-quarters of the city's vegetables are imported from places like Yunnan and Hainan, all of which must pass through Guizhou. The ice disaster in Guizhou directly hindered vegetables from entering the mountain city. In Guangxi's Liuzhou, vegetable prices have sharply risen due to transport issues. The latest market trend monitoring at Liuzhou Yong Agricultural Products Wholesale Market shows that the prices of ten types of vegetables have increased by over 40% compared to the previous week, with the price of cabbage increasing by over 150%. The wholesale price of tomatoes from Yunnan rose from 3 yuan per kilogram to 6-7 yuan within three days. Industry insiders pointed out that the phenomenon of road icing in southern regions is expected to continue for a while, and the disruption of transportation is likely to cause vegetable prices to keep rising for four weeks. Rising vegetable prices will exacerbate inflationary pressures. To reduce the impact of adverse weather conditions on crops, local governments in various provinces are making every effort to ensure smooth roads and transportation safety, ensuring that vegetables and other crops can survive the winter safely and minimizing agricultural production losses. Additionally, the prolonged cold weather in the normally mild southern region has also caused water and power outages. The Chongqing Water Resources Bureau revealed that as of the day before yesterday, the cold snap had caused 7.55 million meters of water supply pipes to crack, affecting normal water supply for 570,000 people, with direct economic losses amounting to 34 million yuan.
Since the New Year, the Sichuan power grid has seen icing on 38 lines, with some areas experiencing power grid operation failures. Over 15,000 rural users experienced power outages the day before yesterday. The Guizhou power grid saw icing on 251 lines, with some towns experiencing intermittent power outages.
The prolonged low temperature and snowy weather in the south naturally raises concerns about whether the 2008 southern snow disaster could be repeated. Experts believe that although there has been frequent snowfall recently, it comes and goes quickly. Moreover, the intensity of this temperature drop and the scope of frosty weather involved are both lower than in 2008, so the likelihood of a repeat of the snow disaster is small. In January 2008, severe snow and freezing disasters in southern China caused traffic disruptions, communication difficulties, and power grid failures. Chief Forecaster Yang Gui Ming of the Central Meteorological Observatory pointed out that the scope of freezing rain in 2008 was the largest ever recorded historically, and the scope of freezing rain this year is not as extensive.
(Responsible Editor: admin)