Jiangsu Province combats snow

Premier Wen Jiabao encourages authorities in snowbound Hunan Province to get paralyzed public services up and running as soon as possible.

Railway managers work overtime to get passengers moving again after heavy snow forces lines to shut. And in east China's Jiangsu Province, locals and government officials are taking contingency measures to combat the extreme weather.

During the past week, the freak snowstorm, which hit the province with such force, has disrupted the lives of millions of people. As road traffic ground to a snowstorms at railway and coach stations or even on expressways in Wuxi and Yangzhou. Volunteers living in the neighborhood cooked ginger tea and hot food to warm them up.

A driver said, "We have been struck here since 9 PM last night. Local villagers are so kind to bring us boiled eggs. We are really grateful for their help."

Challenged by the snow, water works staff are working around the clock to wrap water supply facilities with cold-resistant materials power authorities province-wide are busy with power grid rush repairs to ensure water and power supply.

And experts from the Changzhou Ganghua Gas Company are conducting extra pipeline checkups after the snowstorm.

A technician from Changzhou Ganghua Gas Co., said, "Due to the deep snow, we cannot see the gas pipelines. So we always have to punch through the snow and this slows down our checks."

Doing their bit to fight the snow, citizens in Suzhou and Nantong are voluntarily clearing snow in the street while armed police and PLA soldiers are fully mobilized to clear snow, ice and sleet on major bridges and trunk roads including the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge as well as the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway and the Jiangsu section of the Beijing-Shanghai Expressway.

Thanks to their joint efforts, most major bridges and trunk roads in the province have opened again. However, authorities are getting ready for more snow, which is set to hit the province in the next few days.