A Chinese official warned Friday freezing weather would hit parts of quake-stricken areas in southwestern Sichuan Province this winter, expecting more donations of quilts to residents there.
The province has seen more rainy and cold days this winter than past years and the temperature was 0.5 to 1 degrees Celsius lower than usual, executive vice provincial governor Wei Hong told a press conference in Beijing.
Residents living in quake-affected and remote mountainous areas need 3.6 million quilts and 3.6 million cotton-padded clothes, he said.
So far, the province has received 3.274 million quilts, 3.658 million cotton clothes and 300,000 electric blankets and heaters, including donations from across the country and purchase by the province, he said.
"We aim to send those quilts, clothes and electric blankets and heaters to the hands of the affected people by the end of this month," said Chen Kefu, deputy director of the provincial civil affairs department.
"We still need 330,000 quilts and more electric blankets and heaters," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2008)