Rush hour traffic here is such a nightmare on a normal day it probably would be faster to walk or bike (but then you couldn't carry much). Could run out a full tank just trying to get out of the Beltway. So many drivers would run out of gas. Dreary prospect.

Certainly faster to Metro out of the city if the system was still functioning. Just depends on the situation. Natural disaster with warning. Natural or man-made disaster without warning. Can never really know how you'll react until something happens. Probably it will never be a situation that arises.

Interesting how some people -- Phillip -- are so harshly judgmental on me personally for posting a query to generate a discussion.

The topic is a variation on the age-old question around here in a shelter-in situation of prioritizing one's family's needs when neighbors, who you may or may not know, never gave a thought to preparedness may come knocking on the door. But situations are almost never that extreme so it's hypothetical.

Perhaps there will be a compromise and the neighbors can hold the dog food. As for someone to ride shotgun holding a shotgun, I don't actually know anyone in the city who has said they own a gun. Virginians are another story. The laws in DC are still pretty strict.

It's a bleak topic. Think I'll put the roof basket back on. That would open up a couple seats.

I have a couple of bikes, hitch rack and two bike trailers. Would pass out from exhaustion before the Beltway. And my bike probably would be jacked.

The more I think about how awful for so many a mass evacuation would be, I'm inclined to pray more for that need to never arise. In addition to topping off the gas tank just in case it did.