Thousands of officials and residents have joined a city-wide mobilisation to clear snow and ice from the highways following a severe blizzard that crippled traffic.
Over 12,000 party members and city employees in Jingzhou, in China’s central Hubei Province, have joined forces to manually break up the ice that had swept over their roads.
Extreme weather conditions of freezing rain and snow over the past week, starting from 1st February, led to severe icing on highways, forcing temporary shutdowns.
Many passengers and vehicles trying to travel back to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year holiday for the traditional family dinner were left stranded in Hubei, forcing temporary controls on several highways.
Due to the combined factors of the peak travel period during the Spring Festival and the large traffic flow, vehicles and passengers were stranded on the highways.
The heavy snow, unusual for central China, accumulated up to six inches in some areas, local media reported.
To help relieve the numerous traffic jams, Jingzhou City organised more than 12,000 officials and city employees to clear ice and snow from the highways from 5th to 6th February.
Locals also volunteered to help and even brought their own tools such as iron picks, shovels, brooms. And various anti-slip and warm supplies to aid the large-scale operation.
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Awe-striking footage shows them tirelessly working to break up the ice by hand.
In some areas, the ice was so thick that some people had to squat down to chip away at it with hammers. Others used axes to chop the ice inch by inch, and still others used shovels to lift the ice.
Traffic police directed traffic on the road, vehicles moved slowly, and highway departments organised mechanical equipment to shovel ice.
Officials also organised for additional volunteers to deliver hot meals and hot water to stranded passengers.
By 4:40pm on 6th February, more than 60 miles of road were successfully cleared.
The incredible effort allowed for traffic along the Huyu Expressway and Erguang Expressway to resume as normal.
As evening approached, everyone gradually left the expressways that were successfully reopened.
Along the way, drivers honked their horns to express gratitude to the people of Jingzhou.
