The Cost of Disasters

Hurricanes, earthquakes, forest fires, drought and floods cost a lot to recover from them. When a disaster occurs, help comes in the form of federal aid. But the costs are getting higher as Katrina, Sandy and the Colorado floods demonstrate and there are fewer resources available in a dwindling economy.

The country is slowly going bankrupt as bridges, roads and other infrastructures fall apart and become too expensive to repair or replace. Like an impoverished duke who still lives lavishly even as the estate falls into disrepair because he can’t afford the maintenance and ignores the problem by doing without.

Because of climate change, expect to see harsher weather further erode and compromise our daily life. The cost of food, transportation and labor will become prohibitive and cause more strain and stress on society as recovery takes longer.

It’s not pleasant to realize, but we need to adjust our perspective and brace ourselves for the reality that the outcome of disasters are going to be different from the past. We can’t automatically hold our hand out and expect our government to afford to fix things anymore. We will all have to share the burden and we will because unlike the poor duke, we can’t do without the basics and still call ourselves rich.

(photo UPI)