A 12-member team of psychological experts arrived in Cangnan
County, east China's
Zhejiang Province on Saturday to carry out psychological
intervention for people affected by Typhoon Saomai.
It is the first time for the provincial government of Zhejiang
to organize such a team to allay mental pressure of the people
affected by the typhoon, said Zhao Guoqiu, a psychologist and also
head of the team.
Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to hit the Chinese mainland
in 50 years, slammed into Cangnan County of Wenzhou City Thursday
afternoon with wind speeds of up to 244 km per hour, bringing
torrential rains and strong winds.
At least 43 people, including eight children, were killed and
over 80 injured in Cangnan, where more than 5,000 houses
collapsed.
Big disasters can cause the mental disturbance and problems of
people if they cannot receive mental health treatment in time,
according to Zhao.
Three separate groups of the team will go to the hardest-hit
towns and stay there for half a month to help people recover
psychologically, said Zhao.
Another team is also being organized and will soon go to
typhoon-hit areas to treat mental health of affected local
residents, according to Zhao.
First batch of relief materials including tents, medicine and
clothes have been sent to Cangnan Saturday afternoon. The materials
come from the China Red Cross Society and the provincial and
Wenzhou municipal Red Cross societies.
So far, typhoon Saomai, has left 114 dead and at least 183
others missing in Zhejiang,
Fujian and
Jiangxi provinces. It was downgraded into a tropical depression
Friday morning.
(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2006)