Strong winds driving snow over roads in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have hampered efforts to reach about 1,000 herdsmen, who have been cut off since a major snow storm a week ago.

Disaster response teams dispatched by the county-level Horqin Right Front Banner government had cleared the roads, but snow kicked up by winds blocked them again Friday.

No casualties had been reported, and lives of the herdsmen were not threatened as they had enough stocks of food, said Qiu Feng, a Horqin government official.

The snow storm hit four towns in Hinggan League (Prefecture), a pasture region about 1,500 km northeast of the capital, Hohhot, on Saturday and Sunday.

Snow piled up to 30 cm deep in most parts of the region and a meter in some areas.

The snow was 40 days earlier than its usual arrival time and was the heaviest in 30 years. At least 700 head of livestock are believed to have died in the storm.

The local government has earmarked 1 million yuan (US$150,000) for disaster relief.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2010)