a month after the earthquake in Morocco, mountain residents fear the cold

To access the small villages located on the slopes of the Tizi n’Test pass, in the south of Morocco, you sometimes have to cover several kilometers of tracks. In these douars, where almost all the houses have collapsed, residents have been living for a month in tents provided by the State, on an area of ​​15 square meters, with one or two tents per household of five or six people. On September 9, the Al Haouz region was devastated by a magnitude 7 earthquake, which left more than 3,000 dead and at least as many injured.

>> Earthquake in Morocco: the country faces the challenge of reconstruction

The survivors of this mountainous region of the Middle Atlas, between Marrakech and Agadir, are today facing the material consequences of the disaster. Winter is coming, and many have lost everything. “We especially need blankets because the tents we have do not insulate against heat or cold, explains Driss Bouzid, the village chief of Ighil Targ. The ideal would be to have prefabricated units but I am aware that the space we have is limited and that our douar is difficult to access.”

Waiting for long-term help

The region’s douars are all located between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level. During the winter, precipitation, snow and negative temperatures become daily occurrences. “Yes, winter is coming, but what do you want me to do? says Izza, a breeder, resignedly. I’ll be in my tent, I have nothing else to do…”

Here, the main activities are agriculture and livestock, in quantities limited to supplying the douar. But agricultural terraces built to grow turnips, carrots and peas were swept away by the earthquake, as were livestock.

“We had animals but they died or had to be sold because we no longer knew where to put them or what to do with them…”

Izza, a breeder

at franceinfo

After receiving emergency aid in the first two weeks following the earthquake, residents of remote douars are urgently awaiting long-term aid. “We have received support from both the authorities and the Moroccans but the most important thing now is to be able to cover and protect ourselves from the cold and the snow that is coming and, above all, for agriculture because it is a seasonal activity, which produces little and on which we depend to feed ourselves”, fears Driss Bouzid.

In these conditions, the gradual drop in temperatures worries local leaders. At night and especially in the early morning, the cold is striking in the commune of Ighil.