or interest-free loans some of the distress caused by the excessive ratos of interest charged by many money-lenders; the repayment records of borrowers from these agencies is notably good. The Council of Social Service has set up a sub-committee to consider how to deal more effectively with this problem.
CHAPTER XI
EMERGENCY RELIEF
62. From 1950 to 1954, the emphasis in public assistance work was on emergency relief. This was the period of huge fires in hutted squatter areas, which might deprive thousands or tens of thousands of people of their homes and belongings in a few hours. Thanks to the rapid progress made in resettling these people in fireproof tenements or cottages, these vast conflagrations are a thing of the past. Thirty seven fires occurred during the year, but only three were comparatively serious. In the worst of these, at Shipyard Street, Sham Shui Po, one hundred huts and two stone houses were destroyed and the number of victims totalled nearly 3,000. The heavy rainstorms in May and typhoon 'Gloria' in September caused floods, landslides and the collapse of houses in squatter areas and old tenement districts. In these two disasters alone, over 25,000 homeless people (or 4,500 families) were registered for relief by the Section.
63. The experienced emergency relief teams of the Department register the victims within a very few hours of each disaster and dis- tribute hot meals or dry rations at once. Free feeding normally goes on for a whole month, during which the majority are usually able to restore their position in some degree; after this, each case is reviewed and if necessary granted extended relief. During the year, some 36,000 victims of natural disaster were registered and over a million free meals provided for them. More detailed information about these disasters is given at Appendix 21.
64. Voluntary agencies such as the British Red Cross Society, C.A.R.E., Church World Service and the Catholic Relief Services dis- tributed blankets, used clothing and food parcels. On some occasions cash grants and kitchen utensils were distributed to the victims by Kaifong Welfare Associations.
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