There are several ways of looking at this. One is to look at it from the community/city point of view. An outlay will cost the community a lot. I understand the wish to avoid that.
This sort of thing doesn’t happen all that often. It’s a rare event where 19 men are lost.
The problem I have is the young family with a wife and a couple of kid survivors. This puts them in an untenable position.
The payout you mentioned will see their needs taken care of for roughly six months.
Is $17k the true value of this man to the home? No. Over the next five years this man would have brought in at least $100k, perhaps $150 or $250k.
I don’t expect the family to be compensated for life. I do believe they should be compensated for their loss, and given a reasonable amount of time to collect themselves and move on.
This isn’t like a guy fakes a stumble down some steps, and demands disability pay. These folks died in the line of duty, working for the federal government, or likely a state agency.
I don’t think a $5 - $10 million dollar payout for these 19 lost men is all that high.
$328k, is more or less an insult.