I didn't have any guns ready after Claudette, but my carry that was in my pocket. I live in a small town of 12K, a little different, but the placid blue waters of Lavaca bay is 150 yards off my front door. I'm at rather high elevation 22 ft, and we are well inland of the gulf, but when a storm comes, we get the heck out, no riding it out. I rode out Claudette, was without power for a week. Have window AC, have generator, used 'em until I got power back. Had plenty of mesquite to BBQ with, though. Hell, I enjoy camping.
It wasn't exactly apocalyptic, but then, after going through Carla in 1961 as a 9 year old kid, nothing much is. Depends on the storm. But, firearms are my last worry in a storm. I load 'em all up, the ones I can't stand the thought of losing, along with important papers, pictures, etc that homeowners insurance can't replace, and get the heck out. I'm more worried about having a roof to sleep under than a gun. I grew up without AC in south Texas and didn't die, that's not a big deal if I have to go a week without it, hot as it will be.
Main thing is get out of harm's way. We're a little more vulnerable here. Houston, hell, I'd stay at home and throw a party anywhere west of Baytown. Davionmaximus's area of town is pretty rough, used to work at a Kawasaki shop there just off the SW freeway. I'd keep my carry on me, but walkin' down the street lookin' for people to kill just don't seem to right.
A storm doesn't give one a license to kill and as catastrophic as you might think the situation is, it ain't if you're in Houston or most coastal cities. New Orleans is a special case. They had no more wind there in Katrina than we had here in 03 with Claudette! That storm actually hit coastal Mississippi and you didn't hear about all that stuff happening in Mississippi! Mississippi took the full brunt of it, the max cat 3 or 4 winds the full storm surge. We had 95 mph sustained winds with gusts to 108, but Claudette was small and didn't push a lot of water. Katrina was pushing a BUNCH of water and New Orleans is 10 feet below sea level in much of it. That's sorta a special case. Add to that the fact that the town is sort of Nuevo Laredo as far as police corruption, socialist government, and drug violence, and well, people think anywhere on the coast that gets a hurricane is going to turn in to chaotic mass murder. It just ain't so. In fact, if you'd gotten the hell out of NO before Katrina hit, like an intelligent individual would, you'd not had a problem. You might have gotten your stuff ripped off, but you wouldn't be subject to having to kill someone.
I really don't see a storm as a reason to kill someone, call me naive, but I've gone through a few of 'em in my life and I've not seen it. If anything, the community comes together to help each other out. Of course, in a county this size, lots of people actually know each other. This ain't even Houston, let alone New Orleans. Heck, though, Galveston got pretty well wiped out by surge in Ike and you didn't see the violence you saw in New Orleans. I think New Orleans was the perfect storm, pardon the pun. Besides, it was all George Bushes fault, doncha know?
What never ceases to amaze me is idiots that live RIGHT ON THE FRIGGIN' BEACH and don't evacuate. I wouldn't live on the danged beach anyway, let alone stay there when a storm pushing 15 feet of surge is coming.
Most of the deaths in Ike were people on Bolivar penentula that didn't get out. Darwin rules in situations like that, I reckon. I'm sorry for those who might have lost loved ones there, but hey, playing Russian Roulette is not a safe sport. That's just sorta the unemotional facts of the matter. Storm even HINTS it might hit here, I'm gone, cya on the flip side.
Only reason I didn't leave for Claudette is I was working and they were saying it wasn't going to make hurricane force before it hit. Well, it built at the last minute to a minimal cat 2 and did a lot more damage than was predicted. I learned my lesson and I'm retired now and don't mind going on a vacation now and then.
LOL!