Some losses are incalculable. For Ms. Lavasani, it’s the photo albums of her two daughters, Xena and Rezvon, both now grown, that she mourns the most. She had hoped to save them as the fire drew nearer.
“I was so scared of losing those memories,” Ms. Lavasani, 57, said. “All memories — gone.”
Tricia Wachtendorf, director of the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware, said researchers think of the financial costs of evacuating a disaster in three buckets. First, before disaster strikes, there’s the preparation phase of getting supplies together. Then, the immediate needs of restocking necessities while being displaced and dealing with potential disruptions to work and income. Finally, there’s the long-term costs that come with recovery — big things like relocating or replacing a houseful of furniture.
But there are also personal costs that run parallel to these, like the effects on a person’s mental health, on a child’s education, on a mother’s memory or on the threads of connection that make a community.
Leaving their home saved the Amirani family’s lives, but it also put them on a long road to regaining what they lost. As the fires continue to burn and evacuees wait on news of their neighborhoods, families like the Amiranis are now wondering what they will be able to recover and at what cost.
What Was Saved
When the firefighters came knocking on Jan. 7, telling them it was time to go, Mr. Amirani, 64, and his daughter, Rezvon, 24, grabbed the family’s essentials, including their passports, important paperwork, jewelry, personal technology and Coco, a 9-year-old pet pygmy goat Rezvon received for her 15th birthday.
