Looters around the city freely cleaning out stores (Amazingly Honest Account)

Philadelphia Inquirer ^ | Natalie Pompilio

[Fierce Allegiance]

Sure, they run overhead, but do a hell of a job when the call comes. I don't defend any lavish spending, but when disaster hits, they are there.

I'll take your word for it that the SA is a better choice and will likely redirect my donations that way. I do know the United Way will never get another friggin dime from me!

[One Proud Dad]

I'll bet that you cannot get flood insurance in New Orleans.

[Fawn]

I know there's a ton of Hurricane storries today, but this one made me completely change my mind about sending aid.

The stories that made me mad were the one where the kids went into a police station with their AK-47's and just shot it up for fun....and then another guy shot a cop in the head becuase he was afraid the cop was going to stop him from looting? Help the animals.

[fortunecookie]

It is discouraging to think that our donation dollars are going to help those who've helped themselves to stores and steal whatever they can, even more than they can possibly use. Why aren't they stealing water and clothes and food, some are, instead of stuff they can't use now? I'm sure they are desparate for those items now. Instead, we see them carting off TV's and dvd's and other things they can't possibly use at this time. When the rescue vehicles come for them, will any of them be able to take this stuff with them? The guy loading his van with TV's, shouldn't he be loading it with other stranded people and getting out, if he can find a road? Things have really broken down.

But, still, I agree, Gardener, it's hard to penalize everyone for the actions of a relative few.

[Thrusher]

I live in Baton Rouge, and I know this will probably fall on deaf ears, but that is okay.

I will not try to convince anyone of what to do with your money. I won't lie to you -- plenty of your tax dollars are already going to be shoved into the wrong hands and back pockets during the "relief effort" by the government. That is a horrible tragedy, but there is a lot of corruption here, and although a lot of people have been doing their best to change it for a long time, the corruption persists.

I will tell you that there are thousands of decent, hardworking people in south Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama that have lost everything because of the storm. The news footage shows the smiling faces happily looting DVD players from neighborhood stores, but doesn't show the people that, while evacuating their own families, stopped on the side of the road in the pouring rain to change a complete stranger's tire just because that stranger needed help.

They will show you the massive traffic jams on the interstate and all the road rage, but they won't show you the family that set up a makeshift pit-stop on the side of the road to serve jambalaya and water to people fleeing north into Mississippi.

The media will tell you all about the bastard that shot a cop in the face, but won't bother to remind you that the cop was a man who was still doing his job during a massive natural disaster, not for the meager pay but because he was trying to help the people who shot him, while he may not have known where his own family was or if they were safe.

They will show you footage of the cops who joined in the looting themselves, but not tell you about the average people who, once they got their own families to safety, turned around and went back into the storm to help others.

There are plenty of people who lived outside of, east and south of, New Orleans that are among the most honest, good-hearted people (black and white) that you will ever meet in your life. They packed their cars and trucks full of supplies and headed up to New York on 9/12/01, leaving their families behind, to help a whole bunch of people that have always looked down their noses at southerners like us.

Those people are living in makeshift shelters and sleeping on gym floors with their grandmothers and their grandchildren, trying to figure out what to do, not looting and shooting at rescue helicopters like savages. They are people that would rather do anything other than ask for a handout, but they can't feed their children so they have no other choice.

The TV is shoving the worst of Louisiana down your throat and loving every minute of it.

The best of Louisiana are quietly opening their doors, their wallets, and their hearts to complete strangers.

They are volunteering at shelters filled with decent people who didn't stay behind just to loot or run amok, people who have lost everything they owned. They have family and friends packed into their houses, with no A/C or electricity, just happy to have a roof over their heads. They are walking away from their own jobs and families to go help people in need.

No, the government here is not doing enough to quell the anarchy down there, but the good people here are getting together privately to try to help who they can, not waiting on the government to fix things for them.

Some of your money, maybe even the majority of your money, may go to the animals you see on TV. But a lot of it will get to where it needs to be, especially if you donate to churches and private organizations with firm missions.

The innocent and needy should not be punished for the sins of the truly wicked.

[Fawn]

There was a reason God hit this area hard.....

[Smokin' Joe]

The looting looks like the films I saw of the 67 Detroit riot.

And the last Watts riot. Same M.O. Break the glass, storm the store (do not check to see if the place is locked first)...

If these people were carrying out things they needed to survive, that would be one thing, but make-up? televisions?

The sad part here is that many hard-working and honest people will be judged by the actions of these vultures, just because they may share a couple of physical characteristics.

[Junior_G]

I wouldn't want to go fishing in NO right now unless I was a cannibal.

[knak]

Sounds like walmarts prices will probably be going up too.

[Bombardier]

That one, or Escape from LA. I could see using NO as a prison farm.....God knows the Louisiana prison farm at Angola could use some help. What really sickens me about this is New Orleans is where my great great grandfather came into the US through in the 1850s. I have some strong emotional ties to that city....and to see these barbarians destroying it makes me want to vomit.

[IronMan04]

According to the city/county home page it is 67% black. Thus one might expect 1 out of 3 looters to be non-black.

I was very Lucky to get out of New Orleans on Saturday. If I would have failed in my effort or not had the means to leave or a place to go I would be out there looting for food and water at this moment. BTW-Winn-Dixie the city's largest Grocery store chain has "Invited" people into their stores to loot. Why should you who does not own a store that will be looted be concerned. Furtehrmore, I have a house and commercial property in NOLA that I expect to be flooded. Looting is the least of my concerns right now.

[rolling_stone]

Won't the same thing happen in Houston that happened at the Superdome?

No, I believe in Texas you can shoot people stealing your stuff....

[IronMan04]

There was a reason God hit this area hard.....

And what could that be?

BTW-You live in Florida and according to Your Theory God must not be happy with you.

[commonerX]

""I don't mind sending money...to the RED counties.""


Did New Orleans vote Dem or Rep.

If they voted Dem. then F them, right.
Besides their traitors anyways.

[Smokin' Joe]

Don't conceal it. Better yet, have a shotgun.

[The Toll]

Concerning charity. I am from the Biloxi area and have lived through lesser storms in the past. I just wanted to let everyone know that the only help we ever received during recovery came from the Salvation Army. They came around with trucks full of water and sandwiches. Some of the breweries canned water instead of beer and distributed that through the Salvation Army also. My sister is there now and my parents are headed back in. They will need your help. They are good people that would never take from anyone. Please do not forget Mississippi and the good people that will need your help.

[madison10]

LOL :D Sorry. I'll chill.

[agrace]

That's the thing that strikes me about this. That the only thing separating a certain element of the population from overt crime seems to be a police presence. How many people out there among us only restrain themselves due to the fear of being caught, rather than a respect for right and wrong? Scary indeed.

[tsmith130]

Excellent post!

It's amazing to me that Freepers always complain (and rightfully so) about the way the media slants stories; how they only report the bad news and never balance it with any good news. So now that the news stories are only showing the looting that's going on, they're horrified and will withhold any support that might go to the looters, in effect withholding it from everyone else. Many of you need to get some perspective.

[Junior_G]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Russia has offered assistance.