Hi Tim -

If I had the misfortune of finding myself in the middle of a disaster of any scope, I'd be mighty reluctant to participate in — or rely upon — a mass evacuation via boat/ship or commercial aircraft ... OK, I wouldn't do it.

Problematic for several reasons: the number of people involved would be unprecedented. You've seen what happens at an airport around a major holiday? Child's play. The traffic jam alone created by the influx of would-be evacuees guaranteed to be a disaster-within-a-disaster. Airport parking lots? Forget it. They're pretty much full of cars belonging to people already flying the friendly skies. So, cars would be abandoned where they sat as people rushed into the terminals. Any routes of ingress would near-instantly become parking lots.

Temperaments amongst the hordes that do make it inside the terminals? I'd sooner face my wife after breaking an irreplaceable piece from her 50-year-old set of Noritake china. A logistical nightmare for airlines/airports/air traffic control for a relatively small number of people. Anyway, depending on the magnitude of things, I suspect air space would be locked-down in the affected part of the country to all but military and limited other aircraft.

But, IMO none of this would be put to the test anyway, simply because those running (or trying to run) the show would recognize its futility vs. the only slightly better mass evac by automobile.

You're right about Lucifer's Hammer. A classic that many in the forum, like any self-respecting preparedness geek, have read.