According to reports, some areas still do not have water and electricity. Many people, whose houses collapsed before the Chinese New Year, are still sleeping on the streets. The destroyed farmland still could not be worked on, resulting in increased vegetable prices.

One local resident facing difficulty after the snowstorms, Mr. Jiang of Guiyang Municipality, explained that many houses in the local village collapsed during the snowstorm on the 26th of January, and the crops were all destroyed. Yet, so far, the government has not provided any assistance. His family of eight is still sleeping on the street and it has been very difficult for them to find enough food.

He said “The Government has not provided us with anything. We have lost everything, and are depending on friends and relatives for some assistance. The crops were all destroyed. Now we have no sources of income, no house and money, and children can’t go to study.”

Another gentleman, Mr. Jiang from the same municipality expressed that the disaster is very severe in his area. He explained “There is no water and electricity. Telephone is cut off. Houses are all collapsed and everything is buried underneath. There is nowhere to sleep, so we are just staying temporarily with relatives. Now we have nothing, and no money. The government has not looked after the area, and has not done anything about the situation.”

Newest figures from official reports reveal, over one billion acres of farmland has been destroyed and 485,000 houses have collapsed across China.

The above news is brought to you by Li Wen, Xiong Bing, and Daniel Teng for Breaking News on SOH Radio Network.

A week later she was taken to Shanwei’s Haifeng provincial hospital for treatment. By that time the woman was in serious condition. On the 25th of February, Guangdong Provincial Health Department confirmed the suspected bird flu infection. The lady died at 9 o’clock that morning.

Guangdong Illness Centre collected samples of the virus for testing, resulting in a confirmation that the virus was the H5N1 strain. The lady had come into contact with dead domestic fowl before contracting the virus.

Within the last 2 months in China, 2 other people have been confirmed as having died from the deadly strain, one in Hunan province and one in Guangxi. In Tibet and Hong Kong several cases of infected birds have also appeared.

Chinese Respiratory Illness specialist Zhong Nanshan pointed out that after the large-scale destructive snowstorms, illnesses were spread, including bird flu. As incidents of sick birds rise, he said, preventative measures need to be taken to prevent an epidemic.

The above news is brought to you by reporter Lu Yan, and Daniel Teng for Breaking News on SOH Radio Network.

According to a local, at the end of last year, Zhu Sanjiao district had already begun to experience a negative population growth as people moved to other regions, causing labour shortage problems. Strikes held by local workers were also happening repeatedly. It was also reported in local media that the snow storm would probably cause a tide of business failures.

This report is brought to you by reporter Guo Liang and Interviewer Li Yun for Breaking news on SOH Radio Network.

Wei Min, Mainland victim of the disaster said: “After the snowstorm, logistics in Laiyang have been restored and the electricity and coal supply have been secured. But the temporarily built fragile power grid again caved in. Blackout in Laiyang has been going on for three days. It seemed that Laiyang’s vulnerable power supply system not only failed to sustain in sleet and snowstorm attacks, but also faces arduous reconstruction of the power grid.”

He said, “Misfortunes never come alone. On the upstream of Lai River, a car carrying poisonous benzene had overturned into the river, causing pollution to the water resources in Lai River. Till now, the water supply of Laiyang River has been interrupted for two days, which once again caused great difficulties in life to the residents. Natural calamity and man-made disasters made 2008 a year of catastrophe.”

Speaking of the local commodity price, he said: “Although the prices dropped somewhat, they are still much higher than expected, such as, the average price of rice before the New Year was 0.80 yuan per kilogram, during the snowstorm it reached 1.2 yuan. After the price drop, it is 0.95 yuan; capsicum used to be 90 cents per kilogram, and it rose to four yuan. Before the disaster, Garlic was 3.30 yuan per kilogram and now it is six yuan. He said emotionally, “For China, the Year of 2008 has been a disastrous year with people living in miseries amidst soaring prices”.

The above news is brought to you by Eileen, and hosted by Chris Thomas for Breaking News on the SOH Radio Network.

Many users said that the photo incident has successfully transferred the public’s concern over the snowstorm in Mainland China. An internet user said that if it were not for the pornographic storm that transferred the attention of the general public, perhaps the snowstorm could have been the straw that broke the back of the Communist camel. Other users said that the persistence of some sensational stories on the Internet indicates that there were serious issues at play as a result of the snowstorms. These events were used as a smokescreen to divert the public’s attention from the tragedies of the snowstorm.

Many Internet users believe that if the Internet Management is mindful of law enforcement, dissemination of all pornography can be ordered to cease at any time. Internet users have said that in contrast to sensitive topics of domestic political posts that usually live no more than half an hour, it is inconceivable that these stories have such a life without high-level manipulation or conspiracy.

Users have also suspected that while the Chinese Communists divert public attention from snowstorm, it also intends to use the event of pornography to rectify the Internet, which would be the most ideal excuse to “strengthen the management of the Internet”.

Mr Li from Chen prefecture shared with SOH reporters that it is clear to him by their lies that the government doesn’t care at all. He said that only after 2-3 days of continuous and disastrous snowfall did they provide any relief, but by then the situation was very serious.

Mr Li is over 40 years old and it was the first time he had seen such a disaster. It was reported that several people died, but Mr Li is sure there were more than just those few. He said that he had seen how many people there were in the local funeral home and that the numbers far exceeded just several deaths. Mr Li also revealed that the snowstorm disaster had left most residents without water, transportation, and over 95% without electricity.

Mr Li expressed strongly that the media was being controlled by the CCP. According to their reports on the situation of the disaster and the relief received, the situation was all good. It was very inappropriate he said, to mislead the public like they did. He said that their publicity had had a strong counter-productive effect and that a disaster should be reported as such. He said with the mass communications breakdown from the storms, it blocks the truth from getting to the people of China, so the CCP can’t be seen for the lies they telling.

The above news is brought to you by reporters Chen Jun and Lin Xinyu for Breaking news on the Sound of Hope Radio network.

An official from China Electric Power Supervision Committee said on 5th February that although the repair work is in progress, it is estimated that millions of people residing in 20% of disaster-stricken township areas are feared to be spending New Year’s Eve in the dark.

According to figures provided by the Electric Power Supervision Committee, the electricity supply affected a total of 170 counties and cities due to ice and snow caused disasters. Now, electricity and water have been restored or partly recovered in 131 townships, and a resumption of repairs to 39 areas are being organizing with some remote areas remaining in a grim power situation. This means that 20 percent of the disaster areas in the townships during the New Year will still be blacked out.

Chenzhou City in Hunan Province is the worst hit region with power outage for more than 10 days. People cannot watch television and their cell phones cannot be charged. Even the radio signal is weak. 400 million-plus people all carry water from wells for over 10 days, which has become their daily routine, and candles become a necessity at night. People in the disaster areas are longing for lights. However, whether their wish can be realized remains uncertain.

The above news is brought to you by Ming Wei, and hosted by Chris Thomas for Breaking News on the SOH Radio Network.

Tan Kewen, a pig farmer in Xiangtan City of Hunan Province said, a large number of his animals had frozen to death, causing serious losses, but the government has not empathised with the difficulties faced by its people. Mr Tan said in his locality, the power lines are aged and worn, but despite the 250 dollars from each household which the government had charged, the lines have still not been renewed.

Tan said, “The power lines have fallen over, and the lines are cut off. They were installed during the 1950’s and 1960’s, and when the cold hits these lines, the power supply would just stop. I have a few hundred pigs in my farm, but cannot feed them anything. 70 to 80 of them have frozen to death. In the government, who cares? Like last year, some disease epidemic killed so many pigs, but no one came to my assistance.”

The people from Hengyang City of Hunan also expressed, the snowstorms have caused serious damages, but they had not received any kind of help or support.

A resident from Hengyang said, “We have suffered great damages. Because of the snow, power lines and houses have collapsed. Some have even died because the snow, power and water supplies have stopped for about one month. Yet everything has risen in cost, 3 to 5 times the original price. The problem is, there are so many corrupt officials now, they don’t care if you starve to death, or freeze to death. Where is the welfare? The money has all gone to the corrupt government officials.”

According to the Chinese Communist government’s state media, since the 13th of January, an extremely rare period of severe snowstorms have caused damages to 40 million people. 23 thousand homes and buildings have been destroyed, and a further 30 thousand have seen damages. Approximately 608 thousand livestock have been lost.

The above news is brought to you by Lu Fang, Li Xin, Xionag Wu and Chris Thomas for Breaking News on the Sound of Hope Radio Network.

A great number of cables and telegraph poles are conversed and broken in the Middle-East area. Only in Guizhou Province 50% of the area experienced power blackouts with excessive numbers of high voltage circuitries broken and transformers damaged caused by frozen ice. Nine out of sixteen counties and cities suffered a power cut. The most severe county hit by the natural calamity is Leishan County and it has been isolated from outside without food and power supplies since ice enveloped the roadways on the 14th of January. There is no way to understand the disasters that have happened there in detail.

According to preliminary statistics there are over a hundred people who died due to freezing in those countries that can communicate with the outside areas, Hunan and Guizhou Province. But there are still many regions where communication is limited and the real death toll is still unknown. The whole city of Chenzhou, Hunan Province is into their second week without power supplies.

An inspection officer appointed by the Central government said that the situation is extremely serious especially when viewed from a plane. Frozen vehicles lay on highways and are frozen together and a major numbers of the vehicles can’t start at all and only the places that are near the exit can be helped. Many coaches have been stuck on the roads for over five days. No one including inspection officers from Beijing is able to get in.

According to newspaper reports there are 200 hundred people dead on one road due to being frozen or killed in traffic accidents.

Xiao Sheng, and Chris Thomas for the SOH Radio Network brought the above news to you.

Trapped at the station for days, hungry and cold, many people are pushed and fell unconscious, sick or came down with a cold. Several spots providing medical aids are set up to help migrant workers.

Zigong has encountered extreme weather condition rarely felt in the past 20 years as the freezing rain, snow and ice continue to sweep the area. Urban and rural residents have complained incessantly as large power blackouts took place. However, the 14th Zigong International Dinosaur Lantern Festival is underway and shining on an unprecedented scale. The daily power consumption of the carnival is equivalent to electricity usage of approximately 2,500 average families, and the carnival, which is conducive to the Olympics, will continue for five months.

Some insurance policyholders are in for a rude shock. As of 31st January, all insurance companies have already prepaid snowstorm insurance compensation of 350 million Yuan, and that the official announcement of the loss from the disaster is 53.79 billion Yuan. On the other hand, the existing natural disaster insurance claims have relatively stringent standards that weakened the security function; the existing “snowstorm” insurance liability standard is: Only when buildings cave in as a result of snow pressure within specified requirements, the insurance companies will then assume liability.

Analysts believe that the impact on the 100 million people as a result of the disasters not only highlights China’s weak infrastructure, but also the Government’s incompetence handling of major crisis. It also revealed that under the totalitarianism of the Communist regime it failed to recognize the issue as an emergency to deal with. Chinese communists focus on anything conducive to launching satellites and hosting the Olympic Game, the face-saving projects, but basically nothing is done in response to large-scale disasters.

The above news is brought to you by Shi Hui, hosted by Daniel Teng for Breaking News on SOH Radio Network.