Posts Tagged ‘China Blizzard’

Severe Blizzard in China Tests Disaster Readiness

Monday, November 16th, 2009
Made in China

Made in China

A massive snowstorm in northern China this past week caused $650 million in damages and killed more than 40 people who died in building collapses triggered by snow and ice or in automobile accidents. This provoked fears that the snowstorm was the result of Beijing’s Weather Modification program to seed for snow and rainstorms, addressing crippling water shortages in China’s arid northern regions.  The program is intended to provide drinking water and water for irrigation, but has provoked concerns as to possible misuse. But experts say that a blizzard of this scale could not have been triggered by cloud-seeding efforts. The more relevant concern is China’s disaster level of disaster preparedness, which certainly elicits raw emotions given the casualties following China’s severe earthquake. It is typically the most vulnerable who suffer the greatest losses, both in human and financial terms, for inadequate disaster preparedness. And they are the ones who lack a basic social safety net, such as insurance. In case you were wondering about the photograph, since I have never seen snow in China, I included this picture I took at a Chinese silk factory. These are the silk coccoons made by worms, but as close a resemblance to snow as I could get!