I was in a disaster zone without internet (or electric, except for my car) for two weeks. You are right, but neighbors end up sharing information pretty quickly when their preferred means of communication (ie internet, mobile phones) stop working. (AM radio still worked and could be received from a great distance, and TV might have been working, but I'm not sure because I didn't have a generator for the first ten days and after that it was for refrigerator and clothes washer.)