Here's another angle. I was only thinking about it because I ran across a reference to some survey done after Katrina. Obviously, the psychology of why people do what they do, or don't do, in the face of emergencies is very complicated.

This is similar to what I think Art was trying to generalize in his post about Katrina--that people will fear what they fear.

Some researchers surveyed folks who didn't evacuate before Katrina. Although the stereotype is that it was the poor with no cars and resources who stayed, they weren't the only ones who stayed. A significant number of folks with the ability to leave did not. There were multiple reasons, but fear of looting was apparently high on the list, regardless of high nice or not so nice their neighborhood was.

The past few fire seasons here in Southern Cal, with all the fire activity we've been getting, whenever there's a briefing live on local TV, there's always a representative from law enforcement there to reassure residents that there are officers ready to prevent looting, so residents feel comfortable about leaving when asked to evacuate.

Anyway, a part of me wonders if mentioning so many things that the authorities can't do might have some unintended consequences, like making people less likely to leave their flooded homes because of fear of looting. Or lead to more gun purchases but not really more general preparedness. So, whatever people around there fear the most could have the opposite effect of what you wanted--that is, more personal preparedness. Just a thought.