I have been reading your bug out articles for awhile now and I think that there are things missing in the discussion of disaster preparedness in the US.
Based on several other “end of the world” scenarios that have played out in the past 60 years or so, there are situations that really have not been discussed. I have listed several disasters that happened and how they played out.
1. The Iraq war. For the Iraqi people it was the end of the world as they knew it. I witnessed this personally and have been in the war zone here for over five years starting in early 2004. What happened: some people starved, many emigrated, some became rich. Many were killed in fighting although not the million the socialist newspaper reporters would like us to believe. Currently, the infrastructure is better than before the war and oil drilling is going on at a frenetic pace.
2. Philippines in the 1980s “People power” revolution. That revolution overthrew a president who had taxed and spent the country into the ground while enriching himself. The crime of “plunder” was defined legally.
3. Argentina and the great currency devaluation. Many emigrated, there were riots but after a couple years life went on.
4. Balkans war in the 1990s. America supported the Islamists and went to war against the Christians. The Islamists now are funded and inspired by radical Saudi clerics. Again, many emigrated.
The common theme is that many people emigrated. Emigration is possible even during a SHTF scenario. Our forefathers did it, why can’t we? Irish potato famine comes to mind, WWII, even in the Sudanese war people were able to emigrate. Dubai is full of Iraqis who emigrated, and Israel was founded largely by refugees.
I saw the writing on the wall and started the emigration process five years ago. I have a nearly paid for house in the northern Philippines. We are in a part of the country that has no Moslems or Communists. The area is at least 95% Christian with a number of Korean, and Chinese immigrants of other faiths making the balance. We have water, 365 day growing season, a secure gated community, the right to bear arms, freedom of speech, and English common law based system with the laws written in English and a representative form of government.
It is not perfect, but everyone knows how corrupt the politicians are and the politicians corruption has; in a side way made more freedom. It sounds counter intuitive but the politicians are so corrupt that they are unable to be efficient in enforcing laws. Things like business licenses, sales tax collection, income taxes etc are not strictly enforced.
Of course the downside is that scammers can flourish as well. Property squatting, theft of electricity, poor emergency response services, awful driving habits, and crowded roads due to lack of infrastructure are also results.
It is not paradise but the locals already threw out not one but two corrupt presidents in the last 30 years, and if the world does end for some, our land can feed us with a surplus for trade.