The message is signed: "A little mayor asking you for help!" Laurent Renaud, chief magistrate of Cram-Chaban (Charente-Maritime), calls out Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on social networks. "I would be very honored to welcome you to our little village (...). I don't want us to be forgotten," he wrote to the new head of government. Epicenter of the earthquake of June 16, 2023, this town of 650 inhabitants suffered colossal damage and has been struggling with experts and insurance companies ever since.
Read alsoAfter the earthquake, the Marais Poitevin is worried about its architectural heritage
"I count in mailboxes. I have 360 of them in the commune, 180 of which were affected by the earthquake," recalls Laurent Renaud, referring to the same number of properties that were cracked or torn apart by the earthquake. In recent days, Gabriel Attal's multiple trips – particularly in the Pas-de-Calais region affected by the floods – have awakened a feeling of abandonment in the elected representative of the Crimson region. "My village is dying, I feel helpless... The services of the prefecture and our intercommunality help us a lot, but the village no longer lives as it used to. People are waiting for answers, they need to project themselves, to move forward. Some have lost everything in a matter of seconds," insists Laurent Renaud.
Seven months after the earthquake, many residents of Cram-Chaban and nearby villages are still living in mobile homes and caravans. "The cold has arrived, it's very complicated," Laurent Renaud told the Prime Minister. "You will receive a warm and, I hope, hopeful welcome for people who have lost everything," the mayor of Cram-Chaban wrote to Gabriel Attal.