BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Bad weather has caused such disruption in mountainous areas of southern and central China that the government has ordered the deployment of military helicopters to aid disaster relief work.

    "The winter storms have caused more damage than other disasters such as the flooding in 1998. Since some hard-hit places are in mountainous areas it has been difficult for local governments to launch a relief campaign," said Wang Zhenyao, director of the disaster relief department at the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

    "The situation in some mountainous areas of Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guizhou provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is more serious comparatively, as the continuing snowfall has paralyzed transportation," said Wang.

    "The large number of passengers traveling home to celebrate the coming New Year festival, whi...

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