bigwill,

Your post appears to have been lost in the fray, so I though I'd acknowledge it and say that I completely agree with you. Personal responsibility seems to be at an all-time low in this country, and it's costing all of us more than we probably think. I wonder how many of the people who chose to stay in the city had any sort of emergency supplies -- even just a supply of drinking water -- on hand in case things were worse than expected.