DROUGHT, FAMINE, OR SHORTAGE

A number of events, from an unusually hot summer or cold winter, to horrifi c storms somewhere else on the continent, to war, can cause shortages. If the city runs low on important but nonvital goods—perhaps wood for new construction or metal for the creation of tools and weapons—the shortage results in an upsurge in prices, the closing of major shops or institutions, a rise in crime and unemployment, and demonstrations as citizens demand action from the government. A famine, drought, or other shortage in vital goods not only causes the above, but also causes evacuations and often erupts into riots and violence as citizens, driven by fear and desperation, battle one another over the few remaining supplies. Drought and famine also lead to widespread death, not only from hunger and thirst, but also disease.