Ankara, Jan 11 Aid and relief teams have been concentrating on major cities after the earthquake, but in Turkey there are a large number of small towns where no help has yet reached.
Last Monday’s devastating earthquake shook a large area of south-eastern Turkey, larger than the area of Portugal, and the high degree of destruction, including basic infrastructure, makes it difficult to distribute food. aid.
Separately, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Saturday that many roads leading to rural villages in the region are closed due to snowfall. The poor condition of many mountain roads even before the earthquake complicates communications.
“It may not be enough, but state aid and volunteer aid have arrived in the cities, but almost nothing has reached thousands of towns where people are struggling to survive,” EFE told EFE. Yilmaz Kurt, an emergency doctor.
Kurt traveled this week to the province of Kahramanmaras -where the epicenter of the earthquakes was- and set up a field hospital himself in the village of Alçiçek, from where he describes the situation to EFE drama of many small towns.
“The biggest luxury here is a tent that people have built with what they find and put a stove in it. A dozen women, men and children took refuge there from the freezing cold. They are lucky. They also have flour to make bread. Thank God for their well-being, ”describes the doctor.
Kurt thinks the number of earthquake victims in small towns may be lower because traditional buildings have held up better, but the post-disaster situation among survivors is getting worse every day due to lack of outside support. .
“Deaths due to the earthquake are less, of course, due to the smaller population and the one-story wooden houses. But over time, health conditions threaten people,” he adds. .
In many localities, the houses have become uninhabitable and the alternatives such as tents have not arrived, and also, the lack of water and food also affects the animals in these small agricultural villages.
“Most of the barns have collapsed. Although the authorities say there are no major animal losses, the lack of water and food is a big problem,” he explains.
“The villages of Kahramanmaras mainly depend on animal husbandry. Animals give birth, stables are destroyed, animals cannot be fed and the whole situation is complicated,” he adds.
“Given the lack of medicine, many villagers have also started taking medicine for animals, which is a problem for their health, explains this doctor.
The earthquake affected a population of 13 million in 10 provinces, where access to water continues to be cut off or at best restricted, food is scarce and the cold also increases the risk of epidemics.
Despite the fact that more than 100,000 rescuers and rescuers work in the area, its enormous size, the high degree of destruction, the more than a thousand recorded aftershocks and the cold complicate the work. EFE
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