Maside, mother of a family, is exhausted. He doesn’t scream but he would like to, he gets desperate, begs and is even about to slap someone. Her mother, her husband and her daughter surround her, they suffer like her, they try to participate in the discussion. But Maside, determined, is the one who calls the shots. “But don’t you see, sir? We’ve lost everything. Everything! The clothes we’re wearing are all we have. I understand what you’re saying, but why can’t we get into our house? The building is still in Get off!” exhorts the woman.
In front of her, an official tries to explain to her that, although he understands their situation, there are hundreds of thousands like them, that everyone is the same and that he can’t do anything. “Ma’am, in our system his building has been listed as ‘severely damaged’. It has to be torn down. They can’t go in for their things. They just can’t, I can’t give them permission. Is prohibited. It is dangerous. The building could come crashing down on them,” the man says.
“But all our things are there.” We are with nothing. What are we going to do? It’s all there. Please,” asks Maside, who, more than convincing the man in front of her, tries to deny herself what she has had to experience.
—Ma’am, I’m really sorry. I can’t tell you anything else. Now they have to wait. I don’t even know anything. They can try to make a judicial request so that before the demolition some of their belongings are returned to them. But they can’t do that now. They will take months to process. Nothing is clear yet.
Finally, after pleas and some grumbling, the family leaves. “They’re late on everything… And now what do we do, my love? Shall we leave?” Maside asks her husband. The conclusion is clear: the family, which has lived for generations in the Turkish city of Alexandrettaone of the hardest hit by the earthquake that shook southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria It’s been more than a week, he has no choice but to leave. Here there is nothing left.
a ghost town
Millions of survivors They have taken the same path. The only people left now on the streets of the affected cities in Turkey are the people who have nowhere to flee and nowhere to stay.
throughout Alexandretta, tents they are scattered over what used to be wastelands and empty lots. Almost no one wants —nor should, nor can, nor dares— to return to their old home. If it is, of course, it is still standing.
At first, during the emergency of the earthquake, the region was filled with rescuers y volunteers: Turks and international teams rushed to try to get as many people out from under the rubble.
This race is now over: more than 200 hours after the quake, rescue operations have all but ended, and now a different kind of army is swarming through what were once the bustling cities of Turkey’s southeast. They are neither police, nor military nor humanitarian aid volunteers -which also. They are an army of more than 10,000 civil Engineers.
“Our task right now is to enter all the buildings in all the affected cities to assess damage and decree if they have structural problems and therefore whether or not they will have to be shot down. Typically it takes about 20 minutes per building, and what we do is perform a visual examination of the columns and main walls of the first floors. if we see cracks At first glance, it’s clear that the building has to be demolished,” explains Gökhan, an inspector from the Ministry of the Environment and Town Planning posted to Alexandretta.
“If we don’t see cracks, then we scratch the plaster and paint to find them. If there are, bad. If there aren’t, it means the building is safe, although we recommend owners do a laboratory study in the following months. What we do now is an emergency visual study,” adds this engineer.
A race against time
Her teammate, next to her, nods. “What we are doing is urgent work, because our mission is to ensure that the majority of people who still have a house but are living in tents can return to their building in the shortest possible time. That is why we try to go as quickly as possible we can,” says the woman. Despite the speed, the engineering teams will probably take about two months to catalog all the houses in the 10 provinces affected by the earthquake.
“I wouldn’t know how to give numbers, really. Here, in Alejandreta, I would say that by eye about half of the buildings will have severe structural damage. But I have spoken with colleagues assigned to other cities and things change a lot. one who is in antioch He told me that he believed that about 90% of the buildings in the city have been damaged and will probably have to be torn down. It’s a real tragedy,” says Gökhan.
Time is also pressing, especially for those who have been left with nothing and have been sleeping, for more than a week, in the open or in the camps set up by the Turkish emergency teams.
“Overnight all this has turned into a chaosAnd I think it will stay that way for a long time. I think the state has done everything possible, but the situation is very bad,” explains Hussein, a resident of Alejandreta who lives in a field near the center.
“At night it is very dangerous to be in the street, and there are thieves who break into empty houses to steal jewelry and televisions,” the man explains. There are Army commandos who patrol in civilian clothes, but it is still very dangerous. The city is empty, there is no one left. I don’t know what will become of us.”