It is estimated that 16,000 citizens of the towns Pompeii and Herculaneum were killed by hydrothermal pyroclastic flows. The survivors would have been robbed of their home, community and livelihood. Stranded with no means of making money or place to live, many of the survivors probably died of poverty and or starvation. This eruption completely covered and entombed Pompeii and Herculaneum making the towns uninhabitable. The death toll would also impact the structure of society as the majority of these people were skilled workers.