Hi Folks

I'm looking for some input here on how Americans behave during major evacuations of large cities. I've been doing some SHTF planning for my family - this includes working out some places where we could camp or stay in a motel for a few weeks if our huge city (So California) was evacuated. However, I realized that my thinking probably has major errors because I've never been thru a major evacuation of an American city. I'd like to hear some stories, especially from folks that been evacuated from places like Florida, Texas or other areas - e.g. due to major hurricanes.

1. How far do people have to travel to get to motels that still have vacancies? If a large city pours out en masse - how far do these people spread out?

2. What kinds of unexpected problems happen along evacuation routes ... like gas stations being out-of-gas, drivers doing crazy stuff, lines of traffic stalled for hours etc ?

3. Are there any items that are helpful to throw in your car during a mass evacuation that might not be obvious?

thanks,
Pete2