As far as Katrina, most people evacuated from the area south of Lake Pontchartrain. It was at least 2 to 3 weeks(cant remember exactly) before people were allowed back into areas south of the Lake. Most of the inhabitants north of the lake evacuated as well. I didn't.
Here's what I remember...
Immediately after the storm it took us (about 8 members of my family) 3 days to cut our way out of the 1/2 mile driveway with chainsaws. Gaining access to a the hwy did little because of the tree/powerline debris. It took over a week of citizens and storm chasers(cleanup crews from other states) working to reach my home town of Slidell... which was a ghost town. Most areas were without power on the north shore for 2 weeks to a month. Regaining power on the south shore took quite a bit longer consider the flooding damage of many transmission substations and lines.
Because of the number of people evacuated, there was no one to open a store much less stock it. It took a 200 mile drive for us just to get gasoline. Fortunately, we had brought a 55 gallon drum with us. We filled the rest of the pick-up with beer. Several of the affected parishes had outlawed alcohol sales so... one has to prepare properly.
If I remember correctly, the National Guard had depots deployed pretty quickly... at least on the north shore. They were handing out ice(to keep beer cold), MREs, and other necessities by the end of the first week. For most of us that stayed, we took the MREs just in case. Once the power goes out, we began eating the food out of the refrigerators and deep freezers. We ate much better than usual. It took me months to lose the weight. I still have the MREs... just in case.
During all of this I realized a few things...
1) It was good that some of my family have homes far enough outside the populated areas. It is a place easy to defend
2) We REALLY depend on AC down here!!
3) Bridge failure caused major delays in helping those on the south shore... a bad place to be in ANY catastrophe.
4) Katrina was somewhat localized and yet recovery took months/years. Had the catastrophe been much more wide spread, there would be no help... no 200 mile drive for gas and beer... and no power for MUCH longer.
5) It was good that I had plenty of weapons and ammo... no place to get it regardless of how much money you had.
6) Cash is good.
7) Good neighbors are good.
The ONE situation where I thought I was in danger was with a New Orleans cop.
I was spending days with my family in the rural part of the parish and then sleeping at my home in Slidell to deter looters. The looters never came. However, one of my neighbors was kin, by marriage, to a NO cop. I stopped in front of their home, noticing people there for the first time since the storm. I was greeted by this very arrogant, half-dressed, loud mouthed, rude, fat, individual with a badge on a chain around his neck. He told me who he was and then proceeded to tell me that Louisiana was under martial law. He began to make statements to the effect that he could "commandeer" my truck and there wasn't a thing I could do about it... I diplomatically excused myself, but I'll say this. I felt VERY threatened. Keep in mind that this incident did not happen in Orleans Parish.
The most important thing here is #4 above. Whatever "thing" happens, it's affect on the individual will be greater the larger the affected area. This relationship is probably NOT linear.
