China’s not-so-happy New Year
In one of the biggest annual movements of humanity, about 200 million Chinese make roughly 2.2 billion trips over the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, Jack Frost made a guest appearance, causing massive travel delays, damaging key infrastructure, and disrupting coal shipments to power plants. How does China’s winter disaster stack up against Hurricane ...
In one of the biggest annual movements of humanity, about 200 million Chinese make roughly 2.2 billion trips over the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, Jack Frost made a guest appearance, causing massive travel delays, damaging key infrastructure, and disrupting coal shipments to power plants.
In one of the biggest annual movements of humanity, about 200 million Chinese make roughly 2.2 billion trips over the Lunar New Year holiday. This year, Jack Frost made a guest appearance, causing massive travel delays, damaging key infrastructure, and disrupting coal shipments to power plants.
How does China’s winter disaster stack up against Hurricane Katrina? Here’s a look:
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|
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| Fatalities | 60 | 1,353 |
| Damage | $7.5 billion | $96 billion |
| Evacuees | 1.7 million | 1.1 million |
| Homes damaged or destroyed | Over 1 million | 300,000 |
| Official visits | PM Wen Jiabao to Guangzhou | Bush to New Orleans |
| Industries affected | coal | oil & gas |
| Power supply | 17 of 31 provinces in brownouts | 2.5 million without power |
| Troops Deployed | 500,000 soldiers, 1.6 million paramilitary | 50,000 National Guard Troops |
Photos: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images; ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images
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