More than a week has now passed since Hurricane Fabian hit the Island with such devastating force last Friday.

There is no question that the tragedy on the Causeway in which four people lost their lives will be the lasting legacy of this storm. There is no one in Bermuda whose thoughts are not with the families of the victims.

In spite of that tragedy, Bermuda was fortunate that the effects of Fabian were not worse. Although it caused millions of dollars of damage, large parts of the Island were left relatively unscathed and the power outages were much less severe than they were after Hurricane Emily.

That's of little solace to those who are still without electricity today and may be without power for another week or longer. But it was much worse in 1987 when the poles were knocked over like dominoes. Far fewer poles fell in Fabian, because tree cutting is better than it was before Emily, because better and stronger poles are now used and because some main power lines have now been trenched.

However, trenching all lines is very expensive and the cost - which is much higher than the $20 million to $30 million quoted recently - will be borne by the consumer, along with the inconvenience caused by the roadworks that will be needed. The community will have to decide how much of the cost it wishes to bear.

Still, Belco should continue with its existing trenching programme and it would be worth having trenching of power lines to new and renovated homes made a condition of planning approval. This would reduce the number of homes left without power once the main circuits were restored after a storm like Fabian.

Nor is life going to be easy over the next few months for those who live in the East End. The damage to the Causeway is severe and it is likely that the bridge closures will last for some time. This is not a minor inconvenience; people who live in St. George's and St. David's have to plan their whole lives around whether they can catch the ferry or get over the Causeway before it closes.

There are two ways of looking at the question of whether the Causeway should be replaced with a different kind of bridge.

The first is that the community owes it to those who lost their lives to replace it with a safer structure. In addition, the damage to the Causeway shows just how tenuous the main island's link to the Airport and the East End is. Had the Causeway been even more damaged, or washed away entirely, then this could pose a real threat to the Island.

The second way of looking at it is by measuring the costs and benefits of replacing it. Fabian has demonstrated that the Causeway is vulnerable to a category four or category five hurricane. But replacing it with a bridge able to withstand that kind of storm is likely to be extraordinarily expensive. Fabian was the most dangerous storm to hit the Island in 50 years. The community has to decide if it wants to spend that kind of money to reduce a risk that will come only once every half century or so.

Bermuda has demonstrated once again how quickly and selflessly it can pull together in the aftermath of a hurricane. And the whole community owes a huge debt to the Works Department, the emergency services, the Bermuda Regiment, the workers from Belco and BTC who have been working around the clock to get Bermuda working again.

The next few weeks will be harder. Tempers are likely to fray and impatience will set in. The giving spirit that has characterised the last week will be harder to sustain. But it is important that residents continue to be tolerant. Fabian caused severe damage, and the whole community should be thankful that it was not even worse.