There was almost a revolt here in SW Florida after Hurricane Charley. They closed off the barrier islands for 5 days following the category 4 hurricane. People were trying to get around the police roadblocks to get back. The cops used the excuse that the islands were unsafe, but they really did it according to a new post-hurricane plan. They did it to make their jobs easier. Technically, I don't think they had a legal/constitutional right to block people from accessing their own property, but once you have a safety issue that can be exploited as an excuse, the government won't hesitate to use it.
Of course, no one would want to interfere with hard working civil emergency recovery workers working in the tropical heat and humidity in 24 hour shifts - however, on the other hand, they took fresh from Iraq National Guard troops and stationed them at crossroads with M-16's. Somewhat excessive for this sleepy barrier island of a mostly gentrified retirement-aged demographic. Perhaps they were expecting a surge of revolutionaries seeking stockmarket gentry spoils? I don't think there is anyone here who could be singled out as a potential looter.
In any case, where I disagree with their policy is when the road has been cleared and made safe to a person's house and they are being restricted. Since Charley hit at the lowest point of the tourist season, there was no reason to not let the few people who were here back to houses that were cleared as safe. They were definitely implementing a master plan that had other motivations besides post-hurricane control. Because of this, many people said they will not evacuate next time.
This is supposed to be an intelligent democracy. Next time there's no legitimate reason why people can't be apprized of the clearing job and allowed back into safe areas as they are cleared. The mayor was voted out this last election.