Many victims of Hurricane Katrina housed in shelters in Texas are having difficulties dealing emotionally with another hurricane, a counselor said.
"Residents of shelters are having a very difficult time," said Nancy J. Smyth, associate professor and dean of social work at the University at Buffalo, who volunteered to counsel hurricane victims at a San Antonio, Texas, shelter. "They're anxious and scared when they have to deal with rain, or just water."
Mental health professionals have predicted roughly one-third of evacuees will develop some sort of mental disorder, and many will also will suffer from other types of anxiety problems as a result of their hurricane experience, according to Smyth.
"The folks I talked to said they were getting extremely anxious when it rained at all and were starting to have flashbacks of Hurricane Katrina," she said. "Unfortunately, evacuation conditions don't help. There's not much to do and the mind has nothing to focus on except what has happened."
© Copyright 2005 by United Press International
