More than 640,000 people in Anqing City, in east China's Anhui Province, have suffered power shortages since Sunday due to heavy snow, the local power company said Thursday.

Almost 115,600 people still had no power supply at all by Thursday afternoon, said Hu Xiaoyan, press officer with the Anqing Municipal Electric Power Company.

Snow, up to 8 centimeters deep, brought down power poles and transmission lines, paralyzing electric water pumps and causing drinking water supply problems in some villages in Tongcheng City, the worst-hit region in Anqing.

The rare snowfall incurred 37.51 million yuan (US$5.49 million) in economic losses to the urban and rural power systems, according to the company.

More than 5,000 workers are repairing damaged network facilities and trying to restore power supplies by Saturday.

(Xinhua News Agency November 20, 2009)