Posted on 09/23/2005 6:51:31 PM PDT by neverdem
Associated Press
HOUSTON -- When Houston-area residents heeded warnings to flee Hurricane Rita, they left behind nearly abandoned neighborhoods and stores.
And a potential playground for thieves.
By Friday morning at least three people had been arrested on charges of looting. Houston school district police arrested three juveniles Thursday night who were accused of going room to room at Hamilton Middle School looking for electronics.
They did this because they thought no one would be paying attention, district spokesman Terry Abbott said. We are amazed it was happening even before the storm.
Houston Police Capt. Dwayne Ready said city police had not received reports of looting but were making extra patrols in areas around pawn shops, gun shops and stores such as Wal-Mart that might be attractive to the criminal element.
Ready said the department would pay greater-than-usual attention to pawn shops and gun shops after looters in New Orleans raided such stores, leaving roving bands of gunmen on the streets after Hurricane Katrina.
Ready said officers had responded to several burglary calls since the mass evacuations in the states largest city started earlier this week, but said they were routine calls and didnt rise to the level of looting.
I think the key element in looting is the fact that those who would not otherwise engage themselves in criminal activity (join in) and believe they will be able to hide in the crowd, Ready said. Its the difference between an unlawful assembly and a riot. Essentially (looting) is theft but I think its when the crowd believes they can hide against the anonymity of a large crowd engaged in the same kind of conduct.
And with the department at full alert Friday morning, Ready said officers would be very visible as long as weather conditions allow.
We have put out the message that we are not going to tolerate looting and we have increased out presence and visibility, Ready said.
Abbott said his officers were also planning to be very visible throughout the day.
To the south of the city, in South Houston and nearby Bellaire, police officials said they also had not received any reports of looting.
The New Orleans looters will be in for a surprise if they try that crap in Houston. The liberals in Texas may be too tolerant but they aren't incompetant.
Here in Corpus Christi, most of the people had already left prior to Thursday. On Thursday there was very little traffic compared to normal days, but there were lots of police cars cruising around.
No, not really. Katy is a town that used to be the first civilization west of Houston on I-10. It has mushroomed into a bedroom community and a lot of roads in the area will say, for example, "Katy-Cypress Road". That's because when it was built, it was the road between the town of Katy and the town of Cypress that has now been swallowed up by greater Houston.
Now, when you get to Galveston, you'll see a lot of things named "Moody". That's because that was the richest family in town for decades and they were philathropists. So you'll see Moody this and Moody that because so many things were named after one of the Moodys.
Assuming your house was constructed soundly, unlike this one in Virginia:
Arrested them? You mean the Houston police weren't in there checking out sneakers themselves?
We were just south of Dallas in the Corsicana area. There are steets named Katy in several of the small towns around there.
I didn't know the 82nd Airborne was on the ground in Houston.
I heard something on the news last night about a Texas law. It seems that the law requires gun owners to maintain law and order in their neighborhoods if a disaster occurs and the law enforcement authorities can't get there in time. Sounds like a great law! Looters beware!
Amen!!!!
Now I understand conditions are much more severe in TX, LA, and MS. But in terms of looters... they would gain weight after some lead injections from me.
Most likely, those small towns are located near the old tracks of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, also known as the Katy. Following the Civil War, railroads were a really big deal.
Nobody knows why the city of Katy is called Katy. Some say it was named for the railroad. Some say it was the name of a saloon keeper's wife..
In addition, I think every car should have at least three fourths of a tank of gas at all times. It would act as a gasoline storage reserve if everyone did it. It's like stocking up on bottled water ahead of time, rather than when the SHTF.
It was 4-5 yrs ago that we were there. I just always wondered about that. We travel alot and I'm always curious about the names that pop up here and there.
Isn't Renee Zellweger from Katy, TX?
Roger Clemons is from Katy.
Don't forget to have some cash on hand. Credit cards will not work if the phone lines are out.
Incidently, are those looters from New Orleans by any chance?
Good for you! Keep a fully loaded double-barrel shotgun at your side at all times and shoot to kill.
Regards,
LH
Oh heck! Baseball player?
Don't know.
To tell you the truth, not till just the other day did I learn she's a Texas gal. Guess that shows how closely I observe the stars. :-)
We travel alot and I'm always curious about the names that pop up here and there.
Texas has a lot of place names to be curious about.
One of my favorites is Woman Hollering Creek, just to the east of San Antonio. When someone tells you the true story behind the name, remember to smile politely and take it with a grain of salt. Just enjoy the story, because nobody knows.
Some say its a ghost story brought north from the time of the Aztecs. It generally involves an unmarried, abandoned woman who drowns her illegitimate baby and is somehow decapitated In some versions, she haunts the place.
Some say a band of Comanche (or fill in your favorite tribe) came upon a hapless woman and she let out a holler.
Sandra Cisneros, a local feminist poet, wrote a collection of short stories under that title, but I've never read it. Don't know if she added her spin. Probably did. How could she resist with a place name like that?
But, Texas most certainly does have some colorful place names to ponder.
We never fill the cars with gas until they're at 1/4 full. Topping-off is one cause contributing toward gasoline shortages.
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