When we say the word disaster, we're hearkening back to a time when the stars were assumed to have a role in the course that events would take. We tend to take a dimmer view of their ability to direct our lives, and try to assert our own agency (or someone else's, if we wish not to own our part in some mishap) over and above what resides in the heavens. Yet we still use the word, as if to say, this or that particular tragic event could not have been prevented. (The relationship with the stars remains unstated, perhaps it's still assumed?)
