More than 100,000 people are currently living in prefabricated housing in Turkey’s Van Province. These people are still feeling the aftermath of the earthquake that affected the area in October. The earthquake measured 7.6 on the rector scale.
Large Movement of Units to the Area
There are 25,000 portable storage container homes that have been set up in Van Province since October. These homes have been brought into the area steadily over the past three months. A compilation of 43 modular home companies has come together to plan the distribution of the portable homes. The homes have been transported by the Turkish International Road Transportation (TIR) trucks, totaling 12,5000 vehicles.
Characteristics Make for Perfect Solution
The box homes are incredibly durable and sturdy because they are made from steel and are created to withstand harsh sea conditions. The homes can be assembled easily on site of the home property. The homes can be transported and assembled with swift efficiency. Time is a major factor because the large group of people without homes must be protected from the Turkish winter.
People have been steadily moving from one of the 14 “tent towns” to temporary container homes as more of the units become available. There are still 47,000 people living in tents across Van Province.
The mayor of Van spoke of the plans to develop 29 “container home towns” to deal with the natural disaster recovery, and progress is being made so far to reach this goal.
Relief Housing is in Demand
There is a high demand for the relief effort housing and there are still about 160,000 people still without a roof over their heads. 200,000 more people have emigrated from Van since October. The harsh winter conditions are a major factor in the amount of people leaving the area to seek housing somewhere else. It is essential for the population remaining in Van to move into these modular units because these units are insulated and better equip for a winter dwelling than the tents.