It reminded me constantly of John Steinbeck on the drought cycle in the Salinas Valley, “During the dry years, the people forgot about the rich years, and when the wet years returned, they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way.”
For anyone who hasn't, I highly recommend checking out the drone footage of the Oroville dam. The scale of destruction was massive, and rumor has it even sparked a tiny gold rush after so much bedrock and sediment was churned up.