Since mid-January, heavy snows have fallen over vast areas of China, which incurred an estimated $10-billion direct economic loss throughout the central-eastern-southern parts. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, as of January 31, disasters caused by falling temperatures, wet and freezing weather have affected nearly two thirds of China's total landmass, killing at least 60.

China Central Observatory, for the first time since establishing a warning system, issued a red alert on January 28 due to the ongoing forecast of snowstorms. And that means if necessary, flights would have to be cancelled, railway transport suspended and highways closed, to ensure the safety of passengers in the worst weather that China has experienced in half a century.

The unexpected snow spell posed a great challenge to the capacity of the country's railway network by bringing traffic to a standstill. Snow-caused delays added more tension to the already overloaded public transport as a result of peak travel before the weeklong lunar New Year holiday, during which millions of Chinese rush home for their annual family reunion. Hundreds of late trains stranded numerous passengers at railway stations. In one of the hardest-hit cities, Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, nearly 800,000 passengers were held up for days as heavy snows halted a trunk rail line, causing chaotic and tense situations. A total of 14 airports were forced to close along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, in addition to closed highways, paralyzing China's overall transportation network.

Continuous heavy snow and sleet also strained supplies of resources to the most affected areas because of impeded transportation and production. Coal was in extreme short supply in some areas. It was estimated that stock for the State Grid, China's largest electricity power supplier, was down to 16.58 million tons, enough for only six days, hitting the lowest level on record. And coal reserves of 85 power plants almost ran out. Worst still, snow-laden high-tension cables snapped, knocking out power transmission facilities in some areas. Supply shortages also caused another round of price hikes for agricultural produce due to traffic disruptions, and the government had to fly relief materials to the disaster-hit areas.

The nation is being unprecedentedly challenged by this rare climatic disaster, economically and governmentally. Governments at all levels set in place emergency schemes to ensure people's safety while also trying to stabilize the economy.

As China's railway network battled to return to normal, the emergency response network against abnormal weather conditions, not only for the holiday season, but also for a long time to come, drew more concern.