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That trend doesn’t surprise Tim Haney, a sociologist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, who specializes in studying the effect of disasters on people.

Haney comes by his interest in natural disasters . . . naturally.

The birth of his and his wife’s first child occurred at the height of the 2013 southern Alberta flood, forcing them to have a home delivery; their wedding day in 2005 was disrupted by a powerful tornado in Wisconsin; and their housewarming party in New Orleans was cancelled due to hurricane Katrina.

“Like with all crises, there’s a downside and there’s an upside,” says Haney, research chair in resilience and sustainability.

The downside with COVID-19 is obvious — deaths, suffering, economic collapse, social disruption, etc.

“Obviously we wish that disasters wouldn’t happen — but they’re also opportunities to become closer to people and to rebuild the networks of interdependence that we’ve sort of lost in the last couple of generations,” says Haney, who is trying to help his students online while he must also care for his six-year-old son, Evan, and two-year-old son, Adam, as a result of their school and child care being closed down.

“Needs spur stronger relationships with people and crises put us in situations of need, even if we must be socially distancing,” said Haney.

“As much as we’re all social distancing and we’re isolating, one of our neighbours texted us, who has never asked us for anything and has never offered us anything — he’s sort of a hermit, he lives by himself and keeps to himself — he texted us and he asked, ‘if I need anything, can I depend on you, I don’t have anybody else.’ We said, ‘absolutely, anytime, just let us know what you need,’ and the next day we noticed he shovelled our sidewalk.”