Natural Disasters Are Social and Economic Boost — But Not Always

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[Photo: 23rd Studios/Paul Talbot]

The recent flood created a lot of suffering, but it led to something else, too. CPR talked to people around the state, and several expressed a sense of togetherness in the wake of the disaster. This is actually something people study, including Mark Skidmore, an economics professor at Michigan State University. He and his colleagues have looked at disasters all over the world to measure not just economic effects, but social ones, too. He tells Ryan Warner that communities can experience an economic boon, or can struggle for years to come.