You know, hurricanes, unless you live in New Orleans (a third world city), never warranted a shotgun as mandatory for my evacuations. I have run from quite a few storms, usually took ALL 20 of my long guns and 20 (roughly over the years) handguns because I didn't want 'em ripped off if my house was flattened. I wasn't unarmed, but didn't take ammo for most of 'em. Last storm I ran from was Ike, ran to my buddy's house/farm north of Waco. I've moved since then, inland, no longer need to run from storms. My old home was across the street from Lavaca Bay, not a safe place to be in a bad storm. The town was only 12K souls.
Everyone quotes NO and Katrina as an example of what WILL happen. Well, first of all, GET THE HECK out when they tell ya to, but NO is a special case. Most towns pull together and help each other out after a storm. I went through Carla as a kid. My grandpa had the only working water well in our community, was his irrigation well, shallow well, and had a gasoline powered pump on it. We supplied water for everyone on our road after Carla, had to boil it to be safe, but it was water! Our house got some water, wood floors were warped for years, but no structural damage. Everyone in the area pulled together to help each other out. We never thought about shooting anyone. Heck, we didn't have locks on the doors and we didn't have AC, so windows were always open and, normal times, the attic fan was on, night and day in summer.
Yeah, it's a different time, but I live out in the woods now on a small place with small acreages around me. It's 80 miles from Houston, so there's lots of Houston folks buying up acreage around here for their "bug out" destinations. It's run the price of land up unbelievably. We got our place as a HUD foreclosure dirt cheap.
So, we are already bugged out.
I don't really believe in "prepping". I'm prepped, anyway, ammo, guns for hunting and CCWs, a generator and a travel trailer in case the lights go out in a storm. Country boys will survive. I believe any advice you get on a shotgun for "bug out" is totally opinion made up on fantasy speculation. There are no hard and fast rules. These scenarios are dreamed up so a husband can justify buying a tacticool firearm to his wife. THAT is MHO.
If you want a shotgun, BUY one. Nothing is more versatile in the field or in the house or anywhere than an affordable pump shotgun. Get one with a short barrel for home duties and a long barrel for hunting/foraging if you think you can hunt for food without starving to death in an EOTW scenario.
Me, I've got chickens, a pig trap, deer, lots of small game, a coon trap, even a tank with bass in it, and we're working on the garden situation. I'll make it no matter what.
I'm already "bugged out". And, the shotgun might lack 600 yard effectiveness, but I don't figure I'm justified in killing a man at 600 yards regardless of the situation.