"Disaster" is a very subjective term. One man's disaster is another's normality.

How many people died between 1812 and 1815 because there were no Trans-Atlantic telephone lines? About 30 thousand soldiers, wasn't it? Probably quite a few civilians as well.

I'd call the preventable death of 30 thousand men a disaster, wouldn't you? But in 1812 it was business as usual.

Would you say penicillin isn't essential, just because it's 1928 and people are accustomed to deaths from bacterial infections?