Thanks MaJoC, I realised you were responding to Charmion.

And you beat me to it on the SEP line - a favourite expression of my Hubby (retired IT).

On the subject of the long aftermath of disastrous events, for some years after the 1989 earthquake in Newcastle NSW many aspects of life were still being repaired, not just the buildings and infrastructure, but also normal human life, and repairing the emotional scars as well. And we had to deal with the response of government which was not always ideal.

The earthquake was over in a matter of minutes, but we were still dealing with the aftermath for years afterwards. Whenever I look at the row of newer buildings in a suburban street full of cafés which was particularly hard-hit by the earthquake I hark back in my mind to that event and think of the time it took to rebuild our society, not just the buildings and infrastructure.