Pictures and videos don't lie, (unless, of course, they've been photoshopped or edited, etc.) but I think the video above speaks for itself. I would not want to trade places with any of those travelers right now.
They don't even look like they're waiting for a train anymore; they look like they're part of a mosh pit gone wrong. The little girl who gets pushed up by the crowd and carried off by police probably most poignantly illustrates the mob mentality that's developing in Guangzhou.
Granted, whlie the train station crowds illustrate some of the most colorful images of the storm, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The costs of damages from the storm are already up to $4.5 billion dollars. 150,000 houses have been destroyed, and a total of 600,000 have been severely damaged.
While waiting for transportation can be excrutiating, I can't imagine the devastation for families who have lost all of their material possessions. Furthermore, considering the fairly guarded presentation of China to the outside world, this tape probably represents the best of the worst.
Energy shortages are another major consequence of these storms. In addition to local blackouts, 40% of the train capacity in China is used for transporting coal, which supplies 80% of the electricity nationwide.
Even though the immediate results from the snowstorms might strike a blow to the Guangzhou region, unless extreme actions are taken, they will pale in comparison to the potential avanalanche ahead if China's unable to meet its domestic energy demands.