Kun Chan Kone – With watery eyes, Daw Phwar Sein told aid workers in a low, cracked voice, "Don't make me walk out as long as it's still windy and the sky is full of dark clouds."
She was staying in a monastery doubling as a shelter for the homeless.
Having narrowly escaped a seven-foot tidal wave with the help of her neighbour, Daw Phwar Sein said she was even too frightened to go near the pond by the monastery in Kun Chan Kone town, about 35 miles from Rangoon.
She is one of tens of thousands of storm victims who are traumatized by Cyclone Nargis, which slammed into Rangoon and the Irrawaddy Delta. More than 100,000 people were killed, and tens of thousands are homeless and many are suffering mental trauma.
Many survivors told Mizzima they cannot sleep well. Children shout and run during the night.
"That makes them tired and weak the next morning. The more tired and weak they are, the more likely they are to lose resistance," said a doctor in Bogalay town, one of the worst-hit areas. "It can make them vulnerable to epidemics such as cholera and diarrhea."
A Rangoon resident who went to Kun Chan Kone to donate rice and clothes saw several survivors acting strangely on the road.
A woman was seen shouting the names of her two sons, her skin smeared in yellow turmeric powder – a sign that she may have recently given birth.
The resident said he also saw a man ran along the road shouting. "Water is coming." But there was no water in sight. Another man was seen climbing a utility pole, saying, "If you climb the pole, you can escape from the water."
A psychologist who has a private clinic in Rangoon said it would take several months to cure the mental-health problems for many of those who lost family, homes and livelihoods. He said the Burmese government lacks knowledge and experience in disaster management, but some problems could be tackled as soon as the junta allows international aid experts in.
A survivor from Haing Gyi Island said his brother just sits around staring, refusing to eat or speak. The brother lost his house and fishing boat, worth nearly 1 million kyat.
"My brother is not normal," the man said. "His eyes are dazed. He didn't say anything. And we can't ask him anything."
One NGO expert said there should be grief-relieving centers for traumatized people, like there was in southern Thailand after the 2004 tsunami. Some projects offered survivors a chance to learn new skills while receiving therapy and earning money to support their families.
"We will regret it if their conditions worsen from being neglected," said the expert, who did not want to be identified.
In Kun Chan Kone, a man in his thirties was trying to console his crying baby, looking at a fallen tree that killed his wife when the storm hit.
"Don't cry, baby," the man said. "Your mommy will surely come back to breast-feed you. I'm also waiting for her to come home."
Additional reporting by Maung Dee and Nem Davie, and editing by Htet Myat.
