I am having more questions than "lessons learned" so far.

Like:

Why would people rush out to stand in lines to buy all this bottled water? Don't they have tap water that they could fill their own containers?

Hurricanes don't appear out of nowhere, unannounced. Why the last minute runs to fill your car tank with gas? Why no storage of extra gasoline at home as a routine matter?

Why the runs on plywood? I would think you'd want that stuff all cut and ready to go well in advance. I can't imagine older people (like me!) running out there to handle and cut large heavy sheets of plywood at the last minute, giving you no breaks to rest yourself.

Why not buy your generator in the off season at regular price to avoid the availability and price gouging issues that inevitably result when a hurricane is immediately incoming?

Why wait until the last minute to evacuate and then get stuck in massive traffic, passing by gas stations with mile long lines (if they even have any gas to sell at all)?

Don't they make decorative storm shutters that you could have on your house year round, and then just close and secure them at hurricane time?

Do they make in-home fold up scaffolding so that you could raise your expensive home items higher up inside your house to get above the flood water level? (wouldn't work with something like a 15 foot storm surge, but would be better than nothing for smaller surges)

Does property on higher ground cost prohibitively more than property on lower ground? If you want beach front property, why not build your house on stilts? Is this prohibitively expensive?

Are those houses that can float up (on pontoons attached to ground piers with chains/cables) and then settle back down onto their original piers science fiction only, or are they available now?

Do they make houses out of concrete/cinder block so they can sustain the winds better than wood construction?

Did you really "think through" your home purchase if it's below sea level, supposedly "protected" behind a levee? Why would anyone build, or willingly buy, a house in such an area?

Those air boats that they use in swamps look awesome for too-late evacuations and rescue. I would want one of those in my garage. Does Home Depot carry them?