I figure there are basicaly 3 stages of alert for any unfortunate event.
#1, yellow. A flood, forest fire, train derail or similar event has caused local authorties to mandate evacuations.
#2, orange. Something a lot worse has happened like a cat 5 hurricane with severe flooding, destruction of the local infrastructure, looting, random shootings and vandalism.
#3, red. Foreign invasion which in a post Pearl Harbor, 9/11 world is not entirely impossible.
Lets begin this discussion with a scenario for,,,, well,,, hows about 9th Engineer.
August 2009. After nearly 300,000 years the magma chamber under the Big Island has finally reached critical mass and a major eruption has ocurred. The molecules of what were once state of the art telescopes are now 80,000 feet in the upper atmosphere, magnitude 9+ earth quakes and pyroclastic flows have destroyed the once beautiful city of Hilo. Chaos follows.What's next?