What does "understood" mean here? I don't quite understand what "before the damage is understood" means.
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
We can understand this phrase to mean "before others realize/understand how much damage has been done." Thus, "understood" in this context means something similar to "realized" or "comprehended." Ex: I didn't understand how bad our company's situation was until we went bankrupt. Ex: The CEO didn't understand the company's dire straits until it was too late.