Peggy nails this one.
We live in a very thin veneer of civilization. Time and time again it doesn't take much to expose the base elements of human nature.
Having just been though Hurricane Irma, and having part of Hurricane Andrew in South Florida, the very first thing I did was inventory weapons and ammo, made sure all were in working condition and made available in short notice.
No way in Hades was I going to let some worthless scumbag thug steal my generator, food supplies, water if the worst came to pass.
I used to live in Florida's Panhandle. After one particularly nasty hurricane, our rural area started having a lot of out-of-staters prowling the roads "looking for work".
I was out on the porch and noticed a ratty two-man pickup with Alabama plates SLOWLY cruising by, looking us over. After the second pass, I broke out my Marlin 336 and very obviously began checking it out - holding it up to the sky and "checking the bore" when I heard them coming again. They slowed down, then speeded up and didn't come back. Mebbe, mebbe not, but all weapons were fully loaded and kept on hand for days afterward.