"I'm sure that some of the theft is survival related."
And who is the victim of these thefts? Could it be that the theft of "necessities" by someone to "feed their children" is putting another person at risk and harming their ability to survive? I read a story this morning that some looters stole food from a nursing home. This nursing home had planned ahead and had 10 days worth of supplies. Now they have none. The end result is the looters might just cause the death of other individuals. They may cause the deaths of people who planned ahead and prepared for the disaster. Is this still an acceptable theft?
The nursing home should have been evacuated BEFORE THE STORM. They were warned. Why did they keep those people around there.
Yes, it matters from whom you steal your food. Watching people come to the closed shopping centers where they are accustomed to getting their food and breaking in to get food is not surprising to me.
Who knows...perhaps some of them are honorable and will make restitution some day.
But it's obvious that the food in those stores is just spoiling anyway. Better a broken store window than a starved human.