They couldn't BUY the food or drink if they wanted to. Stores are closed and there's NO cashiers.
For looting other kinds of items, they should be shot.
The fact that NO has become a cesspool, is irrelevant. Even in the nicest of cities, people would still need to eat and drink.
NO is not the nicest of citys, it is in fact the worst of citys, and the store owner might disagree with your opinion of what is ok to steal from him and what is not.
In all the pictures I see, 95% are not carrying food. I wonder where they are going to plug in those boomboxes and TV's. Bet they get pissed when they have to evacuate to eat and other theives steal the new TV from them.
Situational Ethics is another word for justifying the lack of Ethics. These people could just leave for shelters, my bet is they would not have to even skip dinner.
Are you willing to break into a store and destroy another mans lively hood because you had to skip a meal? Because that is what you are justifying. I bet the looting does more damage to the local economy than the storm in the end. Anybodys store that survived won't now. You are looking at 100% destruction. 25% storm related.