You asked:"...I have a specific case history in mind. I had a mother cat that developed an abscess in her mouth and was unable to eat for a couple of weeks. We had lots of cats at the time and didn't notice immediately.
Under these circumstances, what would you predict the mother's behavior toward her babies would be. Would you expect her to keep feeding them, even though she was starving?..."
Yes, she would try to keep feeding them.
But, then, I'm a biologist and know the right answer.
What has this to do with 2 families in a hurricane?
I believe the original question concerned what Darwin would predict in a situation where ethics requires self-sacrifice. There is no single Darwinian answer, but evolution, in some species, has produced self-sacrificing individuals.
Evolution does not predict selfish or unselfish behavior. It is irrelevant to questions of ethics and morality.