Rus: If the shit truly hits the fan (widespread civil unrest and breakdown), the authorities are screwed. I remember the LA riots in 1992 following the Rodney King verdict and the complete helplessness of the LAPD in handling the situation.
The police and National Guard are improperly trained and underequipped to handle anything widespread and, if the wheels really came off the wagon, you’d be on your own.
Not trying to get all “Mad Max” on you or anything, but you’d be better off hunkering down and waiting for some sort of order to re-assert itself. I remember when they evacuated Fallbrook during the fires last fall and it was chaos. They had the Marine Corps assisting the Sheriff’s Dept. and CHP and it was a goat screw. Bear in mind, this was an ORDERLY evacuation, not a riot or civil unrest.