Huge Population Drop After Lizard Attack

[bjl707 4]

My oil city was doing great.  About 100K population and making huge profits from oil.  Then the giant lizard came.  My population dropped to 60K and now I'm in danger of going broke.  My oil profits are keeping my head above water for now, but has anyone else had this issue?  Will the Sims eventually come back?  I've played several real hours since the lizard attack and the population seems stuck around 60K. 

[perafilozof 143]

They all got so scared so they ran out of your city? I have never heard of that before. If he tore down your residential buildings then just zone it and wait for more sims to move in. That is, if your city is a good place to live in.