Orange alert as blizzards hit city (2)

There were 18 flights canceled at Beijing Capital International Airport Sunday, according to chinanews.cn, and nine trains from Beijing West Railway Station to Yanqing Railway Station were canceled due to the effects of the blizzard, according to a microblog post from Beijing West Railway Station Sunday evening.

Zhao Jianxin, a firefighter in Shijingshan district, said the city's fire squads have been on overtime over the weekend to handle the additional emergency calls.

"We've had 214 calls since noon Saturday from people asking for help with drainage, traffic problems or accidents such as house collapses," he said. Currently there have been no serious injuries due to the snow in Beijing.

Other city officials told the Global Times that they have been out on the streets looking for homeless people.

The director of the Aid Station of Chaoyang district, surnamed Zhang, said they started outreach work early Saturday, looking in places such as underpasses where homeless people are known to congregate.

"We informed the around 40 branch stations in the district on Friday, when we first knew that there would be a heavy snowfall in Beijing," Zhang said.

The rescue center would give out items such as coats, quilts, ginger sugar water and instant noodles, said Zhang, who admitted that most homeless people do not wish to be taken to an official shelter.

They had brought four homeless people to the shelter on Saturday, and helped out many more with food and clothing, said Zhang.