Unfortunately, the images and videos are true: there are really around 900 snakes that have found their way into the streets of a village submerged by water in the Chinese region of Guangxidevastated by typhoon Maysak. A woman died from the bite of one of them, but other victims were recorded from the typhoon itself: an unprecedented disaster, which started from a farm.
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Typhoon Maysak
As predicted, starting from last July 7th, the terrible typhoon Maysak has caused incessant rains, widespread flooding and dam failures in the south of Chinaparticularly in the region of Guangxi.
As we read on the Chinese news agency Xinhuaoverflowing rivers, saturated ground and repeated downpours have damaged infrastructure and inundated urban and rural communities, and unfortunately there are currently 10 victims recorded, so that several relief teams have combined their efforts, conducting rescue and assistance operations, resettlement of affected people, public health services, disaster prevention and control and ensuring supply of materials.
The collapse of the dam and the flooding of a snake farm
The typhoon also caused a dam to collapse and a snake farm to flood Hengzhouin the province of Guangxicausing the escape of around 900 specimens, which also took refuge in residential areas, stairwells, corners and along river banks. As a result, several villagers were bitten.
The local authorities initially spoke of harmless reptiles, but in reality quite a few of them later turned out to be poisonous (and some deadly), as can clearly be seen from the images and videos released by the local media.
To further confirm the disaster, on July 8 a journalist contacted a local doctor specializing in the treatment of snake bites in Hengzhouwho confirmed that they had recently treated several villagers bitten by snakes, some of them by cobras, and that they had advised residents to avoid going out at night and stay away from areas with dense vegetation.
The guidelines issued by local administrations
The same administration as Hengzhou has issued emergency guidelines for prevention and control: in particular, the document recommends residents of flooded houses and temporary shelters to:
The emergency guidelines also outline standard first aid procedures for snake bites and strictly prohibit incorrect treatment methods, such as suctioning the venom into the mouth.
According to local media reports, the city of Hengzhou then immediately strengthened its medical resources, urgently expanding the supplies of snake venom antidote at theMunicipal People’s Hospitaland activated special emergency numbers in case of bites.
At the moment there has been one victim, a woman bitten by a cobra, but unfortunately the overall toll from the typhoon is still provisional.
Sources: BJ News / The Paper / News 1st Sri Lanka/Instagram
