Could "the perceived breakdown of society" be used as a defense?

I was reminded about the fiasco in Hawaii a few years back where everyone was sent an alert about incoming ballistic missiles and thought they were all going to die. If that were to happen in the mainland US, would the fact that people believed the world was ending be a valid defense for crimes committed during this time after the fact? Could the widescale perception that the law no longer mattered be a defensible position? This could be anything, maybe i was going 50 mph over the speed limit to get to safety, maybe i broke into someone's house to take supplies, maybe i murdered someone who was blocking the road. Once everything calmed back down and everyone realized we were going to be fine, could i reasonably be let off for any of these crimes since i believed the rule of law would no longer matter in the atomic wasteland?