YINCHUAN, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- A sandstorm on Monday hit some areas in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, covering its capital city Yinchuan with orange sand by noon.The provincial meteorological administration said Yinchuan and the three major cities of Shizuishan, Wuzhong and Zhongwei reported strong winds and serious sandstorms at around midday. The weather is expected to continue into the evening hours.
The sandstorm is the first of this spring in the autonomous region, which experiences dozens of sandstorms from February to May every year. Meanwhile, the sandstorms cause the drought region an annual economic loss of over 10 million yuan (1.25 million U.S.dollars).
RELATED STORY: Texas copes with droughtHOUSTON – Jim Selman normally runs about 300 head of cattle on his ranch near Gonzales, Texas. But in the past month, with continued warm temperatures and no rainfall, he's sold 175 for slaughter and is down to three bales of hay to feed the remaining cows.
"If it stays much drier, the rest of them will be gone as well," says the lifelong rancher. "It's a pretty tough situation" - and starting to rival the drought of the 1950s, he adds, when he had to sell his entire herd and leave the business.
Forecasters are equally pessimistic. After seeing rainfall decline by 20 inches last year, making 2005 the 12th driest year on record in Texas, they say this year is shaping up to be the driest since 1956. The result has been raging wildfires, skyrocketing hay costs, and billions of dollars in agricultural losses
