If this is a true assumption that disasters stimulate the economy of a community then we should wish a really big one on the City of Detroit to help it rebuild to a new and better state of affairs.
Economic stimulus would be a "silver lining" from an otherwise dark cloud that hangs over cities and regions impacted by disasters. You can also say that flooding renews the farming soils of a region, and earthquakes eliminates substandard building stocks.
What a disaster recovery doesn't take into account are the lives lost, families torn apart and relationships ruined. If our priorities are more on the people side of things we will still seek to keep disasters at bay and find a different way to renew our communities without resorting to disasters.
