there probably isn't anyone alive today in the US who is ready to be entirely self-sustaining for six months...if civil society disintegrates for six months, it likely isn't returning
Three days is the minimum for any part of the country that gets blizzards. At this point, I've gone to a week since last winter I was stuck at home for 3 days.
> there probably isn't anyone alive today in the US who is ready to be entirely self-sustaining for six months.
No, there are folks who would be fine for six months. Heck, there are still folks in rural areas that you don't see coming back to town to buy supplies in six months. The country is pretty vast and still has a lot of rough edges.
(I've lived in lake effect snow belts most of my life and never had a 4 wheel drive vehicle and have basically never worried about roads)
With all due respect that's a load of hooey. Northern towns generally have capacity to clear a normal winter's snow. On the other hand, we have gotten well above a normal winter.
First, the snow event can last a couple of days. Even after the large amount of snow gets done, winds can exceed 30 mph with gusts above 50mph. This makes any sort of travel a non-starter. Worse are the storms that start with a sleet / light rain (early and late winter) and then freeze before the actual snows show up.
After the event, you are faced with moving the snow. Late winter storms are fairly brutal if the ditches are already filled with snow. This assumes you can get people to all the emergency equipment in a timely manner. This also assumes the budget is holding for all the overtime.
You can easily be stuck in your residence for 3 days and sometimes a week. Hope the power company is on the ball because that's a load of fun in itself. The 96 storm in ND had people stuck for a week if you were anywhere off the main route. Never mind the damage to the power grid and the setup for the 97 flood.