posted on May, 1 2011 @ 05:06 AM
This is nothing new. Not even remotely close to being new. Yes we saw some wide scale, SHTF lawlessness and looting during Katrina but I can say for a
fact that this happens in the US anytime there is a disaster of any kind. I lived in Kansas (in the heart of Tornado ally) for about 10 years. Dealing
with Tornadoes in this area is a way of life.
There is one day I remember very vividly. It was April 26, 1991. There was a huge outbreak of tornadoes on that day. My day started at the Oklahoma -
Kansas boarder in a town called Arkansas City Kansas. I spent that day chasing storms trying to get some good photographs of a tornado. The day did
not disappoint. There were a couple F-5's produced that day. One thing I will not forget was the city of Andover which is just East of Wichita
Kansas. A huge F-5 hit that town and left it in pieces. The damage was unlike anything I had ever seen. It really was a tragedy. People's homes
destroyed. Their possessions destroyed and tossed about like trash, which is really all it was by the time the storm had passed. I can still remember
seeing a mobile home frame... huge steel frame... twisted up like a pretzel and stuck at the top of a tree. The whole area was destroyed, it looked
like a war zone.
It did not take long for people to begin helping others and helping them to find what few things they had left. In the middle of what should have been
a heart warming moment, as strangers helped strangers. Strangers held strangers and gave them a shoulder to cry on, we saw the looters. People who
simply decided to take advantage of a tough situation and find possessions they could salvage and keep for themselves. I helped in that clean up. I
was there to help clean up in Winfield, Arkansas City, Andover and Newkirk Oklahoma. In each place, there was no shortage of looters. The police can
not watch over everything, especially in places where the damage path was just so so huge.
So again, this was 1991. Nothing has changed. There will ALWAYS be heartless people who will seize upon an opportunity to take advantage of others who
are suffering. As much as I may hate to admit it... that is the American Way.