BEIJING — Unusually early snow storms in north-central China have claimed 40 lives, caused thousands of buildings to collapse and destroyed almost 500,000 acres of winter crops, the Civil Affairs Ministry said Friday.
Nineteen of the deaths resulted from traffic accidents related to the storms that began Nov. 9, the ministry said.
The snowfall is the heaviest in the northern and central provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong and Henan since record keeping began after the establishment of the Communist state in 1949, the ministry said. It estimated economic losses from the storm at $659 million.
Chinese state media said some of the snow was induced through cloud seeding, although the precise amount of snowfall in all areas was not reported.
Hebei’s provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, received the heaviest snowfall. In the three days ending Thursday morning, the snow accumulation there reached 1.8 feet, the heaviest since 1955, the China Meteorological Administration said today.
More than 7.5 million people have been stranded or otherwise affected by the storms, which caused the collapse of more than 9,000 buildings, and forced the evacuation of 158,000 people, the ministry said.
State media have reported at least two deaths were caused by the collapse of buildings, including a school cafeteria.
Beijing has been hit by three successive waves of snow, causing havoc on roadways and forcing the cancellation or delay of scores of flights.
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