"There is little that can be done by civilians in preparation."
If you are at ground zero there is little that can be done. If you are 5, 10 or 15 miles (depending on the size of the nuke) from ground zero that is a lot that can and needs to be done. We need to have an active civil defense program if for nothing more than psychological preparation - it will make the U.S. public much more resilent to threats. Lefties hate civil defense because they want to make us feel helpless so that we will surrender.
You'd think people would be piling their belongings on their SUV and heading out to the rangeland. Forget the mortgage, just move, now. Every city should be a ghost town by tomorrow. If they nuke anything then, it would be nothing but the bank's assets.
We had one. It was obvious it was about over when they started to use the shelters for community centers and moved the supplies out of the way. About 1970.