The desperation and lawlessness are what I think folks should be preparing themselves for at this point. This is what happens time and again when folks become distressed and desperate; social norms break down and chaos reigns.

I need to locate a manual pump for my well and stockpile staples. Back in '97 we lost power for 8 days during the icestorm, which was a debilitating enough lesson to learn, and I shudder to think what that would be like if the scale were exponentially more devastating. Our culture has become accustomed to the free-flow of people, goods and information, so if that flow is restricted or halted, I think we'd break down rather quickly into a state of civil strife.