Snowstorm challenges

The cold front sweeping northern China has not reached the level of havoc the 2008 snowstorms inflicted upon South China.

But the disruptions caused by the heavy snowfall are not any less serious. This time, the impact is broader in scope - covering a good part of the country's northern regions.

From Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Liaoning to Shanxi, Hebei, Henan, Shandong and northern Hubei - those places in northwest, north, northeast and even central China, we hear alerts of snowstorms.

Major transport lines, expressways, railroads and airways are cut off, and travel in most of northern China is a harrowing experience. Hundreds of thousands of passengers are stranded halfway on roads, or at railway stations and airports.

All expressways in Henan province in Central China are closed. The city of Shijiazhuang in North China is in a de facto state of paralysis. Some residents in Taiyuan, capital city of one of the country's main energy bases, are suffering blackouts. Some sections of expressways through Shanxi and Hebei provinces in North China have turned into parking belts.

All affected areas appear to have issued severe-weather warnings; and emergency response measures are now in place. As long as temperatures do not fall dramatically, things might not get as bad as in the south last spring. But the scope and magnitude of the disruption prompt us to ask: Have we taken every necessary precaution in advance? After all, the latest snowstorms were not unexpected. Perhaps few had anticipated the severity - in a number of places, the snowfall is the heaviest since meteorological records have been kept. But meteorological departments have been forecasting snow well in advance.

Of course, we believe that our cities and transport arteries would not have been this fragile had there been better preparedness. But let us leave that for later; the immediate imperative is to find a way out of the current troubles.

The passengers stranded in the cold on the roads need to be accommodated. The pathways for supplies of daily necessities need to be opened up. Vegetable prices have been soaring nationwide; in Shijiazhuang, some vegetables are out of stock, prices of a dozen others have risen by 33 percent to 150 percent. Even after the snow yesterday, low temperatures may continue to prove obstacles to transport and supplies.

Given the nature of this cold front, the consequences, even chaos, may finally prove transient. The real challenge is whether we can resolve the problems in time, or reduce the disruption to the minimum.

In fairness to all related authorities, the response has been quick and generally effective. But they can surely do better next time as long as they are better prepared.

(China Daily 11/13/2009 page8)