We had plenty of "individualsists" here in New Orleans who stayed home to protect their property. Those in lower-lying areas wound up perched on their roofs, waiting for helicopter rescue; those on relatively higher ground did, in some cases, succeed in protecting their homes, not from the flood, but from the looters.

However, almost everyone was eventually dragged out of town, kicking and screaming if necessary, after it became clear that the entire fabric of the city's infrastructure was disfunctional.

There was a short period of time, maybe about a week after the storm, when there were virtually no local private citizens at all, anywhere in town ~ only rescue workers and government employees (including local police and firemen as well as representataives of FEMA and other federal agencies).