Been there, done that.
I evacuated twice, and learned some stupid people died on the barrier islands to the south of us when they tried to ride out the storm, then realized they were in trouble and attempted to cross the causeways during the height of the storm. Local government makes no bones about folks who ride out storms during evacuations not getting any emergency services if they opt to do that. That's a good idea, why should ambulance, fire, and police stick their necks out to rescue folks too dumb to get out of the way?
We were given lawful orders by both the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and 45th Space Wing Commander to evac from the Spacecoast barrier islands during Hurricanes Jeanne and Francis. We threw our big Tupperware hurricane evac kits (you have one of those ready, don't you?) into the two vehicles and hit the highway after dropping off the rest of the G-98 firearms collection at a friend's home in Melbourne. We learned that as soon as the evac order is given by the sheriff's department, one hits the road. To wait much longer tempts finding gridlock on the evacuation routes, something we experienced during the evacuation of Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
Along with the three dogs, my wife and I packed a couple personal rifles. Even being familiar with and qualifying yearly with the M16, I'm not a big fan of the AR-15, but I do own a few, and my wife appreciates the lack of recoil. So I packed my Bulgarian SLR-95, full mag, bolt closed on an empty chamber, she had a Colt HBAR, full mag, bolt closed on an empty chamber. We also had two 1911 variants stashed amongst our belongings ready to go if we needed them. We had made our reservations in a LaQuinta Inn in Kissimmee, FL, and wasted no time getting there. (Note: the State of Florida relaxed the tolls on the the BeeLine during hurricane evacs) We took the hurricane kits, coolers, water, provisions, and dogs into our motel room and waited it out until given the all-clear to return to Merritt Island. The four jerry cans of gasoline stayed cabled to the bed of my truck. Gasoline vendors tend to sell out quickly and also gouge prices during evacs, and I wasn't taking any chances in not having enough fuel to get our two vehicles home after the storm had passed, especially if we encountered interstate gridlock again.
What we didn't expect was a huge gaggle of British tourists who had been stranded in Orlando due to the airport closure. They had also been put up in the same LaQuinta Inn, and you should've seen how large their eyes were when a couple showed up with two vehicles full of bug-out gear, each slinging a loaded rifle over their shoulders. But that was the extent of it, just big eyes. The Orange County Sheriff's Department did show up, but it was to quell a dispute instigated by some very drunk and belligerent British guests who weren't happy about being stuck in Orlando. The deputies weren't too concerned about the folks arriving from the evacuated coast, even if they did have rifles slung on their shoulders. They waved and smiled at my wife and I as we moved stuff from the vehicles to the motel room. Having been just released from the base sandbagging detail earlier in the day, I was wearing my full BDUs, so maybe having a rifle over my shoulder didn't unnerve them in that context. I don't know, and I didn't give it much thought at the time.
Since those evacuations, I've acquired a sidefolder Romanian SAR-1, so if we were ever to be in the same situation, my wife would carry the SLR-95, and I'd carry the SAR-1.
As it turns out, Hurricane Jeanne tracked right across Florida into the Orlando area before swinging north and up the East Coast. While the winds had diminished a bit from when Jeanne made landfall, it was still no fun walking the dogs like kites on their leashes, and having the LaQuinta Inn lose power, water, and A/C. I have since promised my wife since I retired that we would no longer make Florida our home. Now she's crabby about the -20 temps we had here in Wisconsin in February. Oh, well...
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