Huge snow storms in China
Tuesday November 17, 2009 - Email this article to a friend

Heavy snow in central and northern China has killed up to 48 people. A number of children have perished after school buildings collapsed under the weight of snow.

It's reported by state media that 9,000 buildings have collapsed.

It's the heaviest snow in 60 years and has caused massive problems with airports closed, roads made impassable and power supplies cut off to many.

Up to 5 million people are said to be affected.

The snow began to fall on several provinces including Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Hubei and Shaanxi, and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The snow has caused an estimated $660 million in damages.

Local authorities are doing their best to cope with the crisis.

It seems out of place to report it, given the human suffering, but several ski resorts including Yabuli, Wanlong and the Nashan ski resort near Beijing have opened early after the snowfall.

It all comes as the US President, Barack Obama, visits China this week for a state visit to America's second-largest trading partner.

Forecasters say the weather has improved in recent days but the clear up operation and consequences are still be on-going.

Ironically it follows recent cloud seeding by the authoriites to try to get it to rain, that resulted in heavy snow in Beijing.

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