HEAVY SNOW FAILS TO EASE DROUGHT

[Anchor Lead]

Restoration efforts have hit a snag as heavy snow which took over the southwestern part of Korea still remain frozen. Contrary to expectations that the recent snow will relieve the severe drought that has been continuing in the region, the water reserve rate rather fell.

[Pkg]

The greenhouses are covered in snow. Some of them have caved in under heavy snow. From inside, one can see the frames have drooped. It seems the crown daisies which should be harvested cannot be salvaged. The snow cover, nearly 30 centimeters deep, must melt before restoration can begin.

[Soundbite] Ahn Chun-ho(Greenhouse Owner) : "Restoration is impossible. It will turn into a swimming pool when the snow melts. Even if I get workers to remove the snow, there is no place to dump it."

A damage survey conducted after the snow storm shows an increasing amount of damage in the Jeollanam-do area. As of 3:00 p.m. Sunday, it was tallied that 126 greenhouses and cattle sheds were damaged, incurring an estimated damage of 920 million won for the province. The recent snow was expected to relieve the severe drought in the region, but that hope was dashed. More than 20 centimeters of snowfall were recorded twice in the past two weeks, but the water reserve rate at Dongbok Dam dropped from 28.4% to 26.7%. The moisture in the snow was minimal, causing only about 5% of it to turn into water.

[Soundbite] Lim Dong-ju(Public Water Service Office,Gwangju) : "The rate of the snow turning into water is very low,so the actual amount of water remaining would not be much. So we keep asking Gwangju citizens to use 20% less water."

The southwestern part of Korea is reeling from the double punch of a heavy snow storm and an unending drought.