Earth Science News
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Aid tents offer warning of Morocco quake survivor's future
Aid tents offer warning of Morocco quake survivor's future
By Joshua MELVIN
Amizmiz, Morocco (AFP) Sept 13, 2023

Survivors of Morocco's earthquake were packed in a football-field length queue to get stand-ins for the homes they had lost. They received yellow tents with no floors, in a symbol of the uncertainty ahead.

Yet even this step marked progress for people like Fatima Oumalloul -- her face still bloody from when her home collapsed on her three days prior. She won't spend another night unsheltered on the ground.

"I just want a home, one fit for a human," the 59-year-old said as soldiers handed out the tents in Amizmiz, a town south of Marrakesh that has become an aid hub for shattered Atlas mountain villages.

The shelters popping up in tent cities and beside destroyed or dangerously damaged homes show that aid is starting to flow, but also leave survivors unsure how long these temporary structures will be home.

The quake that struck Marrakesh and the regions to its south on Friday killed more than 2,900 people, according to the latest toll.

But the disaster also left a vast number of homes uninhabitable in rural areas where locals don't have the money to quickly, or maybe even ever, rebuild without help.

Yet those questions were secondary to not dying in a building that was known to already have been damaged by the quake.

Oumalloul knows the dangers well.

She was trapped under the debris of her collapsed home until a neighbour who came to check on her ended up stepping on the spot where she was buried.

"I'm under here. Don't step on me!" she said, recounting the moment through sobs and sitting on the bundled tent at the distribution site.

- 'Everything so uncertain' -

Fatima Benhamoud, whose home in Amizmiz has cracks large enough to fit a finger, got one of six-person tents too.

"Our house is synonymous with risk," said the 39-year-old, who shared the house with her children and relatives.

"We can't sleep inside. We have to sleep outside, so we need the tent," she added, noting the rainy season is coming fast.

Just in front of her house, the mass of people waiting for tents on Tuesday was steady for hours.

From the distribution site, they have flowed southward along the zig-zagging, narrow mountain roads that lead toward the epicentre.

Private aid convoys, composed of individuals or associations, have also grown to the point where they create traffic bottlenecks on roads meant for far fewer vehicles.

The roads though offer a conduit that is missing in some hard-to-reach, rural areas where some residents have said authorities have failed to adequately provide help.

A 15-kilometre (10-mile) drive into the mountains -- past clusters of the yellow tents -- leads to the devastated village of Ineghede.

Some partial structures remain, like the mosque prayer room that is missing a wall, but swathes of the village are a jumble of the timber and stones that are used in traditional-style buildings.

The tents travelled up the mountain road and into Ineghede on Tuesday and locals were busy pounding in stakes, raising poles and then moving in their bedding and possessions.

Mohammed Amaddah, 33, pitched his tent on the dusty lot next to his damaged, but still standing home with a smile and efficiency.

But his wife Latifah leaned on the wall of their house and watched with little enthusiasm.

"I don't want to sleep in a tent. I feel like I'm in the street," the 24-year-old mother of one said.

But the yellow fabric flapping in the breeze is just one part of what's bothering her.

"I feel like my heart is broken. I'm afraid of the future, it's so uncertain," she added.

Once the tent was up, she held her young son's hand and looked at the tent with a blank stare. It was now her home.

"I didn't want it," she said.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Moroccan citizens step in to help quake victims
Tafeghaghte, Morocco (AFP) Sept 11, 2023
Ordinary citizens are stepping in to do their bit for victims of the deadly earthquake in Morocco, after some complained that the authorities were slow to act. Maria Boujdig lives in Agadir but is originally from Tafeghaghte, one of the villages hardest hit in mountainous Al-Haouz province, the epicentre of Friday's quake. She loaded her car with food and drove the more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) east to distribute it to needy villagers in the aftermath of the strongest earthquake ever to h ... read more

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Moroccan citizens step in to help quake victims

First phase of Fukushima water release to end Monday

Ten dead in northern China gas leak

Fukushima wastewater release spawns misinformation

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
China pledges to invest billions in Serbian copper and gold mine

German circus replaces live animals with holograms

GomSpace receives order from EPIC Aerospace to support space tug development

From art squat to Berlin gentrification lightning rod

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
French Pacific archipelago divided over shark hunt

Small islands take ocean protection case to UN court

Palestinian water woes highlight dashed hopes of Oslo Accords

Adapt now as hotter marine heatwaves hit: scientists

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Measuring the retreat of Italy's largest glacier

New research explains "Atlantification" of the Arctic Ocean

Study quantifies link between greenhouse gases, polar bear survival

Tides may be responsible for much of under-ice melting in an Antarctica ice shelf

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Satellites detect where locust infestations begin

Climate change pushes Bordeaux winemakers to harvest at night

Instacart seeks $10 billion valuation amid industry woes: WSJ

Invasive species a growing and costly threat, key report to find

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Cyclone-hit Brazil braces for new storm

Toll from Greece floods rises to 15 dead

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts again

Amid devastation and mud, Brazil buries victims of cyclone

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
53 members of Burkina security forces killed in suspected jihadist attack: army

France discussing withdrawal of 'certain military elements' from Niger

Military trial in DR Congo over deadly crackdown on anti-UN rally

Tourists 'not going to let quake' stop Morocco trip

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Hong Kong's top court rules to recognise same-sex partnerships

New ancient ape from Turkiye challenges the story of human origins

ALS patient pioneering brain-computer connection

The race to link our brains to computers is hotting up

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.