Additional team sent to guide weather-induced disaster response in China's Anhui

BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- An additional team was dispatched to east China's Anhui Province on Thursday to guide the prevention of and response to disasters resulting from rain, snow and freezing conditions, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

China has launched a Level-IV emergency response -- the least severe response in the country's emergency response system -- for the Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces due to low temperatures, rain, snow and freezing conditions, the ministry said.

China expanded the Level-IV emergency response coverage to four more provincial-level regions -- Anhui, Hunan, Chongqing and Guizhou -- at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Also on Thursday, China's National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert for snowstorms and an orange alert for freezing conditions, warning of heavy snowfall in the northwestern, northern and northeastern regions from Feb. 1 to 5.

Parts of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hunan, Guizhou and Chongqing will experience freezing rain during the period, the center said.