How Bad Was Houston, Texas Hit With Looting Following The Events Of Hurricane Harvey?

Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard move through flooded Houston streets as floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey continue to rise, Monday, August 28, 2017. More than 12,000 members of the Texas National Guard have been called out to support local authorities in response to the storm. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Zachary West)

A viral video allegedly shows two men standing in water taking cash from a register following the tragic events of Hurricane Harvey. An anonymous Internet user posted the video LiveLeak with the headline, “Couple of sh*theads looting in Houston during Hurricane Harvey.”

Harvey’s torrential rain, devastating winds and widespread flooding have so far cost at least 39 lives, driven over one million people to evacuate their homes in Texas and caused extensive destruction that will likely make it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history.

Snopes reported the video as an unproven claims for a number of reasons. The video (seen below) contains no time or location stamp. Additionally, the poor quality in the video makes it difficult to determine what kind of currency they are taking out of the register.

The video’s lack of any time or location information leaves the claim unproven. The video been viewed millions of times and shared thousands of times. Unfortunately, the commentary on the video has been filled with racist messages. Even violent death threats were aimed at the black community as a result.

The Houston Chronicle tallied 40 arrests for Harris County as of Aug. 31, 2017. The storm’s flooding resulted in 46 deaths as of Sept. 1 2017. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner implemented an overnight curfew, “only to prevent potential criminal acts.”

The same day it was posted on LiveLeak, the video was posted to the popular “Outlaw Morgan” Facebook page with the caption, “So the looting has begun.”

In the wake of massive disasters, fears about crime and other forms of disorder almost always rise, experts say. But while some people do take advantage of the collective distraction, the fear of crime – particularly looting – typically outstrips the reality, said experts who study storms and recoveries.

Isabel Torres captured an incident on her cellphone and posted the video on Facebook: “These [guys] do not miss an opportunity !!.. This happened during Harvey storm in Houston Texas . . . !!!!” As of Friday evening, Torres’ video was viewed 1.1 million times. It was aired repeatedly on Fox News.

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Here are some examples of people talking about looting during Hurricane Harvey.

What did you think of the videos? Have you see them being shared on social media? Have you heard about bad looting occurring during Hurricane Harvey? Let us know in the comments section.

Photo Credit: Source