February 6, 2008
Since Jan. 10, central, eastern and southwestern parts of China have been inundated with the heaviest levels of snowfall and icy rain in 50 years, resulting in at least 40 deaths.
Some 17 provinces and municipalities, including Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Shannxi, Jiangsu and Guangxi have been affected -- an area with a population of 60 million. At least 240,000 people have had to leave their homes, with some 149,000 homes collapsed and 602,000 homes damaged, the Amity Foundation, a long-time CWS partner, has reported.
The poor weather and storms have caused serious shortages of electricity and coal and reduced electrical supplies in the affected areas. As one other example of the problems caused by the situation, some 239,000 persons in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China are having trouble accessing drinking water, Amity said.
Some 16 million acres of crops have been damaged and the losses to agriculture and the economy are estimated at 53.8 billion Yuan, or about US $7.5 billion, the Associated Press (AP) news agency has reported.
RESPONSE: CWS is responding to this emergency by supporting the efforts of the Amity Foundation. Amity is assisting 5,000 families who have been made homeless by the weather in selected cities and villages. The focus of efforts will be in the provinces of Hubei, Anhui, Hunan and Guangxi.
The response includes: providing 15 kilos of rice per person to 5,000 persons; providing one quilt per family (5,000 families); providing two sheep per family for 400 households; helping rebuild 400 animal pens, for 400 families, as well as helping rebuild 400 houses; helping rebuild three school buildings, clinics and hospitals; and helping rebuild two drinking water systems. The implementation period will be for a year, continuing through January 2009.
Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be made online, sent to your denomination or to: Church World Service, P.O. Box 968 Elkhart, IN 46515.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
A woman prays in the snow at a village near Pingshi, 320 km (199 miles) north of China's southern city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province, two days before the Lunar New ...
