They lost people and lives overnight. They ran away from him earthquakebut they are afraid of the cold. They cram their basic needs into tents, train cars, greenhouses and factories.

Nearly two weeks after the crash earthquake in turkey which killed at least 40,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes, earthquake victims struggle to cope with the ongoing life. However, there is no shortage of flaws in the unprecedented disaster, despite the huge humanitarian efforts of the Turkish government and dozens of organizations. More than 5,400 containers have been provided as shelters for earthquake victims and another 200,000 countertents, according to the Turkish government.

However, the destruction is enormous. According to the government, at least 84,000 buildings housing 332,000 households were either swept away by the February 6 earthquake or damaged to the point of being uninhabitable.

There is currently no official count of people displaced in the earthquake-affected areas, which are home to 16% of Turkey’s population or about 14 million citizens.

“We are afraid of the cold”

In the mountainous villages of Kahramanmaras province, locals struggle for some warmth, especially on particularly cold nights.

In Buyuknajar, a village just a few kilometers from the epicenter of the 7.8 earthquake, locals have set up tents but they say they are too fragile and fear the cold and frost will cause more deaths.

“Our main need is, first of all, containers. Tents don’t work here… People in tents will die from the cold,” said Umut Sittil, a 45-year-old resident of the village.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that 2.2 million people had fled the disaster area. Of these, according to him, the basic need for housing for 1.6 million people has been met. However, many prefer to stay in their own areas: some to protect their property, others to wait for bodies and funerals, or, in more rural areas, to look after their flocks.

Life in greenhouses

In Hatay, near the Mediterranean coast, one of the hardest hit areas, local farmers have been forced to move into their greenhouses. So, among – mostly – tomato trees, they carried beds, baking ovens, kitchen utensils and everything that was easy to transport.

According to local residents, about 2,000 people took refuge in nylon greenhouses.

“We don’t have clean clothes. We can’t wash, take a shower. It is very difficult to live here. We don’t have anything. It’s like living in the countryside,” says Susan Sagaltigui, one of the greenhouse residents.

Other displaced people are doing better, but certainly not very well. Elsewhere in Hatay, the Yuksel family has taken refuge in a steel plant where local organizations provide them with basic necessities, including clothing and household items.

Veysel Yuksel, his wife and three children live in a trailer at a factory near the port of Iskenderun. “Our house was not completely destroyed, but it has serious damage. All the buildings around us were razed to the ground,” says Yuksel.

IDPs living in the factory share hot water toilets, a shared washing machine and a small kitchen. They sleep in desks, containers or wheelbarrows, like Yuksel.

At the Iskenderun station, many families are accommodated in carriages.

“Our house is no longer inhabited. Now the vans have become our home,” says Nida Karahan, who lives with her family of five in one of the vans.

The guests say that the military provides them with warm shelter and three meals a day.

Source: Associated Press.