Only hours after Hurricane Ida ripped through New Orleans, Louisiana, tearing roofs off buildings and causing “major destruction,” the looting began. New Orleans Police Chief Shawn Ferguson warned them not to do that, but some insisted. Local residents took the law into their own hands to help the cops who couldn’t make it to the scenes of the crime.
The moment looters realize a drone is watching them try to break into an ATM maching in burned down St. Claude market in the lower 9th ward. #hurricaneIda #looting pic.twitter.com/PtPGO7ZPGE
— WXChasing (Brandon Clement) (@bclemms) August 30, 2021
Looting not allowed
On Sunday, August 29, Chief Ferguson rushed out a message to New Orleans residents “before the city lost power and shut down.” Short on time to talk, the Chief laid out “how rescue and recovery efforts would proceed after the storm.”
He also made it crystal clear, one thing is definitely not allowed. “We will not allow any looting throughout this process,” he declared “and we will be out there to enforce it.” Except for where they weren’t.
As reported by Police Tribune, videos “and still photos posted to social media after the storm showed some community members were making efforts to stop looters themselves.”
Liberals were outraged that the sheriff would actually dare to deploy special looting prevention squads, “and questioned the city’s priorities.” Apparently, Antifa® sides with the thieves.
New Orleans Police Chief Shaun Ferguson as Hurricane #Ida pummels Louisiana:
“We will not permit looting, and we will be out there to enforce that.” pic.twitter.com/UuvKrHxy3Y
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 29, 2021
One videographer had his drone out filming the devastation Monday morning when he unexpectedly surprised two men looting “the cash out of a bank machine.” Well, they were at least thinking real hard about it, then they saw the drone. Ida rolled in on the Anniversary of Katrina.
One man is already “trying to get the money out of two burned out money machines.” The St. Claude market burned down for unknown reasons in the storm. Two cash machines were “accessible after the market burned.” Like cockroaches, the human scavengers seem to know just where to go.
Not a good idea
As the videos show, “another man came through the destroyed doors, presumably to help his friend.” He changed his mind about looting when he saw he was on candid camera. “However, he looked up and saw the drone hovering above him and turned and walked back out.”
The first socialist trying to share the wealth “stayed and continued to examine the ATM as if the other man had not advised him that he was being watched.” The police will take note of that.
In Bay St. Louis post-#Ida. The #looters are out. Tires floated from a shop on 603. Guys in truck were trying to steal them. This woman ran them off. Always opportunists when people are hurting after a hurricane. Hate it! #mswx pic.twitter.com/DEumMaXiV0
— Anita Lee (@CAnitaLee1) August 30, 2021
The storm was worse than everyone expected which meant that law enforcement couldn’t be everywhere at once. That didn’t stop community vigilantes. “In Bay St. Louis post-#Ida. The #looters are out. Tires floated from a shop on 603.”
“Guys in truck were trying to steal them. This woman ran them off.” As the poster noted, looting and hurricanes go hand in hand there. “Always opportunists when people are hurting after a hurricane. Hate it!”
So far, the death toll from Ida stands at 5, including a 71-year-old man who “was eaten by an alligator lurking in floodwaters caused by the storm.” A distraught woman told local officers that “she went to check on her husband after ‘hearing a splash’ in the shed and discovered that the reptile had him ‘locked in a death roll.'”
More fatalities are expected to be reported as time goes on. People are lining up for gas where they can get it and there are reports of price gouging already. Another looting incident was reported at a “store in New Orleans East.” Mayor Cantrell was pleased “that the number of Good Samaritans far outweighed the number of opportunistic thieves.” She doesn’t see vigilantes, she sees “residents who are being neighbors.”