>>I saw 1 report with a cop pointing his shotgun at looters and ordering them to put down the clothes they were carrying. They may have desterately needed them for themselves or family. They just dropped them onto a muddy heap of rubble - what use to anyone now are those clothes - again, insurance write-offs.
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>>This is a bizzare and tragic situation, totally unlike looting where, say, people have evacuated but the storm hasn't hit, or in a black-out.
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>I agree that the tv shots were confusing. But a more organized distribution of supermarket articles would've been a better solution than cops saying 'go ahead'.

I've read one report where it actually began with a distribution, by police, and soon turned into a general anyone-take-what-you-can, which then was joined by policemen themselves.

And I've also read that the media are showing just too many scenes of looting, and not that much of the dead, ill and injured. I got an impression that the disaster was downplayed.