Research by the University of Groningen shows that more Groningen residents continue to have complaints once their reinforcement process has been completed. Earthquake coach Melanie Postma also sees this in practice. Postma works for the municipality of Groningen and helps victims. ‘People struggle with all sorts of things once they’ve completed the entire process. And those are things we didn’t really expect.’
‘These people are listed in the books as ‘done’ or ‘completed’. But it turns out not to be. And the more houses are completed, the more problems we encounter. We are now investigating what to do with it.’
And then many residents are still waiting for something. processing what happened.
“You can compare it to mourning,” says her colleague Jodi Kremer. ‘The most difficult period starts after the funeral and when there are fewer and fewer visitors. You can see that here too. The feeling of insecurity is now gone, hassle with authorities, stress and money worries disappear and then there is room for processing.’
‘People have to learn to give it a place. They have been through a lot and were forced to leave their home. That remains a wound that opens quickly when you run into something.’
