For anyone interested in what's happening in New Orleans and the surrounding area (as far away as KC and St. Louis) this is a set of insights and suggestions someone has put together from his friends who have come from New Orleans.

http://home.sprynet.com/~frfrog/disastr.htm

It's very interesting reading, and reveals how unprepared we all are. Most of the preparations suggested are cost-prohibitive for students and probably even young professionals, but there is stuff you can do that would help a lot without costing a lot (mostly in the planning area).

I see an underlying theme there:

If you have weapons, you might be safe. If you don't have weapons, you probably won't be safe.

I don't think that's the theme. The theme is if you plan ahead, you've got a good chance of doing better than the crowd. He doesn't mention weapons that much.

And if you were in some of the situations he describes that his friends went through, you might have an inflated opinion of the importance of firearms too.

It seems that many people in Texas didn't see that site.

Another advantage to living landlocked: any highway that runs through your city provides 2 ways to get out, not just 1.