Effects of accidents on a community?

I haven't read either book but I've done a lot of book reports. The fisherman almost dying and the horses sound like two good examples. Elaborate how these events affected the community. Did they rally to help? Did it cause a debate in the community that divided the town? What did they do to support? How did the public or townspeople react to these incidents? Did those people change after that? For the better, or for the worse? Did a certain community member instigate change or lead the others in a certain direction or behavior? What would you have done if you had been a member of that community in the aftermath of those events? Did the events weaken or strengthen the community?