Poverty relief leads to disaster preparedness

XINING - Ngawang Dawa will never forget the 15-day journey he took 10 years ago to bring food and clothes to farmers and herders hit by a snowstorm.

Heavy snowfall hindered rescue efforts, said Ngawang Dawa, the deputy county head of Zhidoi county in the Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture at the time.

"We had bulldozers remove the snow so our cars could get through, but it was slow work. Many herders were low on food and fuel by the time we arrived in Sokya," he said. It took 15 days to reach Sokya township, the farthest one from the county seat.