ABSTRACT
A great many more people survive catastrophes than are killed by them. When the dust settles, the water recedes, and the ashes take flight in the wind, the survivors are left in pieces. A world that was solid has turned friable. A milieu that functioned has disassembled into silos without seed, roads without terminus, homes no longer standing. A set of meanings and explanations that offered sense has dissolved into detritus as much as has levee and promenade, edifice and avenue. The inhabitants of the devastated zone could in general be described as middle to upper middle class. Most were well educated and relatively affluent. They held such jobs as professor, doctor, lawyer, teacher, social worker, nurse, business owner, and artist. Beginning almost immediately after a major catastrophe, be it hurricane, tornado, cyclone, fire, earthquake, volcanic eruption, flood, avalanche, or a technological calamity, generally there follows a period when victims are propelled into a circumstance of extreme individuation.
