For me, living at almost 48 North, NVIS during low sun numbers is not going to happen on forty, even in the afternoon. 80m here is very , very reliable out to 350 miles, even with a low wire. For preparedness, I've found that the 'one-tank-of-gas-distance' is the most important to me, personally. As MaryAnn pointed-out, the big bang of that volcano, flooding and other emergencies have me quite interested in what is happening among family and friends within driving distance. If it's an actual emergency/disaster, then reliefe locations for water, food and single malt Scotch (yum!) is going to be important - the closer the better.
For northern USA (Europe and Canada etc.) Lower frequencies are required for NVIS than for more southerly locations. 80m is working for me very well for regional skeds, until VERY late at night when the MUF moves below 3.5 Hz for NVIS. daylight on 80m right now (solar minima) is surprisingly good, doing what 40m does during the solar cycle times of higher sun numbers.
A Note About Antennas: EFHW on 80m is 40 m : true enough. However a square, horizontal loop is only 20 meters on a side - still large, but possibly manageable at low height and ideal for NVIS. The QUARTER WAVE antenna with wire counterpoise along the ground is very easy to erect , lower visibility and not a bad performer for comms within Europe (when I was there back in dinosaur days ;-)
73 de RadioRay ..._ ._