“I suspect the reason it didn’t turn really ugly in DC is because the LEO presence there is massive.”
That, and a couple of other things.
The power outages were spotty so a person could go somewhere to cool down, get ice, etc.
It was just too damn hot the first two days for anyone to get too riled up. Food was still availale, and power restoration started in some neighborhoods on Monday.
If everyone who was without power Friday night (like me) was still without power a week later, then it would have started to get bad. I got power back tuesday night and in the meantime had been able relocate a few miles up the road to someplace with electricity, comms and a/c.
It took a moment to realize what you were talking about.
Now, I'm thinking about what it would be like if we could send all of DC into Low-Earth Orbit (LEO).