I have a question about the usage of the verb "occur". According to definition 1 of this dictionary, "occur" means for a event to "happen".
But then I saw these usages of "occur" in a couple of NY Times articles:
Article 1:
The aircraft damage occurred even though about half the helicopters were moved inside hangars and the rest tied down as the storm approached, the Army said.Article 2:
Criticism also seems to be the most stressful part of the job for Hubie Brown, the Knicks' coach who was hospitalized for three days last fall after an angina attack. Brown's illness occurred as he was anticipating an unflattering article about himself in Sports Illustrated magazine, and while he does not directly connect the two events he puts ''media pressure'' at the top of his list when itemizing sources of stress.
For the first example, "damage" is a state of being damaged, not an event. So how does "damage" occur?
For the second example, an "illness" is a state of being unwell, not an event. So the phrase "Brown's illness occurred" sounds weird.
What do native speakers think? Are the usages of "occur" in the two examples poor usage?