Deroy Murdock on Hurricane Katrina on National Review Online

I recommend reading this entire article, but this short summary contains some of the more noteworthy incidents of criminal activity in Katrina's aftermath:

Deroy Murdock on Hurricane Katrina on National Review Online: "For all their mismanagement, Bush, Brown, Blanco, and Nagin have had to operate during what likely is the worst natural disaster in American history. Katrina flattened and soaked 90,000 square miles that remain in a state of emergency — an area nearly that of the United Kingdom. The problems these officials faced were (and are) mammoth, Herculean, and gargantuan. For all their shortcomings, at least they have not operated from malice.

That cannot be said of the shameful New Orleanians who darkened and complicated an already grim situation. Few begrudge those who stole water and food to stay alive. Those criminals who ripped off TV sets, jewelry, and enough pairs of jeans to complete their Christmas shopping four months early behaved without a thread of ethical justification. However, one at least can see how they personally would benefit from their thievery.

But imagine the unvarnished evil of a sniper who fired at doctors and nurses who tried to evacuate patients from Charity Hospital. Terrified of bullets, medical personnel kept the infirm in sweltering rooms where some expired.

A flotilla of private boats prepared last week to rescue stranded hurricane survivors. The boat owners turned back when they were shot at. Those dying on their rooftops had to wait longer, perhaps fatally, thanks to their own murderous neighbors.

Scott Harney posted this news on the New Orleans Times-Picayune’s website:

Spoke to my uncle this morning (Thurs) in Riverbend near Carrolton and St. Charles. He and several (elderly) residents are holed up there and the security situation is getting desperate. Heat is extreme, and there are roving gangs of looters with guns. The looters have also commandeered a backhoe and are ramming homes…While Leake Avenue and River Road are dry, they are afraid to leave as they fear they will be shot, carjacked etc.

Michael Shellie of Oregon told the New York Post about looters who broke into his New Orleans hotel: “They threw everything out the windows just for the fun of watching it crash — televisions, vending machines, beds. And they robbed the manager at gunpoint, so he fled.”

The Saks Fifth Avenue near the fashionable River Walk was sacked over the weekend. Soon thereafter, it burned in yet another fire that authorities blamed on arsonists.

Rather than applaud as 14 contractors crossed the Danziger Bridge to fix the 17th Street Canal that faltered and submerged their city, a well-armed band of hoodlums instead opened fire on these engineers. NOPD officers, on hand to provide security, shot back at these hooligans. In a magnificent and morally pristine use of force, the NOPD killed two of these goons and wounded two others in a firefight. They also captured two more who fled, one of whom was injured in an exchange of bullets.

If these derelicts hindered the levee-doctors’ work for even a quarter hour, that would have been 15 minutes too many. Katrina’s still-trapped victims can thank these criminals, not George W. Bush, for this latest delay in getting help.