Yes, wise words. Sometimes the first punch sets up the second punch, which hits a lot harder. The fast moving emergency becomes the slow, agonizing march back.

The outrageous fire seasons we've had up here in the last two years echo the point: Fort McMurray is still rebuilding, with municipal officials overwhelmed for a whole year in issuing cleanup, demolition, and building permits. No doubt BC is in the same boat, or will be, as systems try to recover to normalcy.

It seems we humans set up shop in the areas that are generally much more advantageous to us ... except for the attendant natural risks, which can and will hit us very hard. Coastlines, dense forests, earthquake zones, flood plains, volcanoes ...