Armed police struggle to clear roads to restore traffic in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region on October 27, 2008. Three days of continual heavy snow has blocked the only road leading to Zayu County, a fertile and prosperous area in southeastern Tibet. [Photo: Xinhua]

The only road to Zayu County in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region was blocked on Monday, October 27, as a result of heavy snowfall for three consecutive days, Xinhuanet reports.

A senior official of the county government told a Xinhua reporter by phone that persistent precipitation ever since October 25 has made the fertile area in southeastern Tibet an island.

Three-meter-deep snow has damaged the county's 210-mile road, the only gateway to the outside world.

The snow disaster also destroyed some 15 square kilometers of farmland and stopped many local people from purchasing winter supplies from a nearby township.

The Zayu County government has started an emergency disaster relief plan to offset the effects of the weather.

The snow is continuing to fall, and shows no signs of stopping.