What highlighted this for me is that I read recently where power companies are currently sending equipment and crews to Puerto Rico to help with the restoration of power.
I recall back in September, right after the hurricane hit the island, one local emergency manager for an electrical utility mentioned that he was surprised that no request for resources had been made. Well, that type of help is on the way (maybe other help was provided earlier that I did not pick up on).
When it comes to describing what is different about an emergency, a disaster or a catastrophe, the time to recover is very much a defining aspect separating a catastrophe from all other levels of disasters.
