1st LD-Writethru: Heavy snow wreaks havoc in China

BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Heavy snow has continued to cause havoc in parts of China, disrupting traffic and bringing low temperatures.

Nineteen expressways in northeast China's Liaoning Province have been closed or controlled since snow started Sunday night, according to local transport authorities.

The snow will result in icy roads, the local observatory forecast Monday morning. Following the snow, Liaoning will see temperatures plunge by up to 10 degrees Celsius, the observatory said.

In Xinyang City, central China's Henan Province, snow from Wednesday to Friday, the worst since local records began in 1951, killed one person and injured three others.

Primary and middle schools in the city have suspended classes since Thursday.

The disaster flattened 26 houses and damaged over 2,000 hectares of crops, causing total economic losses of 219 million yuan (33.8 million U.S. dollars).

In eastern China's Anhui Province, quilts and coats have been distributed to residents to withstand the biting cold, following heavy snow since Wednesday, the worst in Anhui since 2008.

The snow has affected 1.5 million people and damaged over 160,000 hectares of crops, causing total economic losses of 3.5 billion yuan, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

The National Meteorological Center Monday renewed a blue alert, the lowest level in a four-tier warning system, for a cold front in some central, southern and northeastern regions. Enditem