Society

Expressways reopen after freezing rain strands thousands

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-01-03 13:46

BEIJING - Traffic began to slowly get back to normal in Guizhou Monday morning after freezing rain that started to pelt the province Saturday night left thousands stranded in their cars.

Almost all expressways in Guizhou, southwest China, had been closed from late Saturday to Monday morning after rain that quickly turned into ice on the ground left more than 7,000 people stranded, according to the Guizhou Provincial Department of Transport.

Thousands of travellers had also been stranded in neighboring Hunan Province and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region as road links with Guizhou were cut.

In Hunan, long-distance buses carrying more than 6,000 passengers had been redirected late Sunday after being delayed on an expressway for a day. Hundreds of trucks were still stranded Monday morning.

In Guangxi, more than 8,000 people in some 1,500 vehicles stretching about 20 km on an expressway in Nandan County had been stranded since late Saturday.

Authorities in Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi have dispatched food, water, quilts and other supplies to the stranded passengers.

Icy rain and deep freeze wreaked havoc in southern China in 2008, disrupting traffic, damaging power facilities, and spoiling people's lives.

But the China Meteorological Administration predicted Monday that a widespread icy rain and deep freeze were unlikely to hit Guizhou and Hunan in the next few days again, although low temperature would continue.