I would think that the major problem with using the Pine Barrens as a refuge would be the fact that the Pine Barrens is a very fragile ecosystem that could not easily support large populations of refugees. Add to that the famously insular nature of the local residents. Fresh water and waste disposal would be primary concerns. Much of the water in the Pine Barrens is either brackish or heavily laden with iron content (to the point that many streams run orange). The Pine Barrens area was famous in Colonial times as a bog iron production area. Some of those military installations I mentioned also occupy a large portion of the Pine Barrens (Fort Dix/McGuire AFB, in particular), plus there are two major state forests whose rangers might be opposed to an influx of people. Much of the Pine Barrens is also not easily accessible, anyway. There are a few major state roads that traverse the Barrens (Rts. 70, 72, 539), but these are quickly becoming lined with developments. I suppose the area around Batsto might make a convenient refugee camp, and there are some well-established campsites along the Batona Trail (small, though).

One thing I though of after my previous post is that the past two years have given us floodings of the Delaware River the likes of which have not been seen in decades. There has been much damage along the banks, particularly in the area just north of Trenton (Washington Crossing, Lambertville/New Hope, PA, Stockton, etc). Just another example of localized evacuations here in the Northeastern US. We also had a hell of an oil spill in the lower Delaware not too long ago.

There have also been evacuations of South Philadelphia for industrial accidents (chemical plants, refineries, etc.) in the not-too-distant past, not to mention the horrible thought of possible nuclear/radioactivity accidents at the Limerick, PA or Salem, NJ plants (and those are the only two I know about nearby).

When I was a teenager, three oil storage tanks exploded in North Jersey. We felt the explosion at my grandmother's house in College Point, Queens. We thought a plane had crashed at LaGuardia airport (just across Flushing Bay). The cluster of refineries and other industrial sites in North Jersey would keep me prepared for possible evacuations.

One last thing...many people do not realize that a major fault line runs right up the Hudson River. When I was in high school in NYC, I distinctly remember two earthquakes of 4.4 and 4.5 magnitude. No big deal, but what if there was a bigger one? Buildings in NY aren't built to the same standards as California buildings.