"in case of a large scale disaster the Internet/data centers might be down" This relevant comment by Alex begs the question, "how long (in the "average disaster") does it take to reconstitute necessary services? What has been recent experience?

To bring it home, when the Big One comes to southern California, for how long will the rest of you be deprived of the insightful posts of those of us living in the affected region? I know it will be tough,but hang in there....