This is an interesting question for me. I work for U of Missouri Extension, and I am on our local Disaster Management team.
Here in Missouri, we live under threat of tornadoes, and ice storms, and, scariest of all, a replay of the New Madrid earthquake. If that big one hits, it will make Katrina seem like a walk in the park, and it is important that people can care for themselves for days, if not weeks.
I do try to keep enough food in the house to last for a while. I have several gallons of water in the utility room, and I know how to drain the water heater if the water system fails.
We recommend that people keep an emergency pack ready, in an easily accessible place. It should contain a change of clothes, sturdy shoes, important papers, prescription meds, a blanket, and other things that I have forgotten, because I DON'T HAVE AN EMERGENCY PACK.
I have just been reading The Great Deluge, about the fiasco that was emergency management during Katrina--if you think the government is gonna come get you after an emergency, you better read that book, and then go get your emergency pack prepared.
Maybe this diatribe was off topic?