Everyday heroes arrive in a snap to keep holidays rolling
Electricity workers, doctors and traffic rescuers ensure Spring Festival travel beats the cold
On Jan 17, he and three of his colleagues were sent by the State Grid Wuhan power supply company to the Qingliangzhai hill station, which sits at an altitude of 800 meters, to make sure the facilities still function smoothly in the freezing and icy conditions.
As part of its work, the team cleverly uses an unmanned aerial vehicle fitted with an insulated iron rod to hit the electrical wires and dislodge ice and snow. A smaller UAV monitors the thickness of the ice on the wires.
The UAVs have made their jobs much easier, as in the past they had to climb the tower to remove the ice and snow by hand, Song said.
Wuhan and many other places in central and eastern China, including Henan, Hunan and Anhui provinces, have been hit by heavy snow and freezing rain since Thursday.
On Sunday, the National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert for blizzards that advised authorities to prepare for snow and freezing weather during the ongoing Spring Festival travel rush, which sees hundreds of millions of people traveling to reunite with their families and friends. Orange is the second-highest alert level in the country's four-tier, color-coded weather warning system.
