As Hurricane Milton barrels toward the west coast of Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis fired a shot across the bow of anyone lying in wait to plunder homes or businesses left abandoned in the storm.
“There’s going to be a lot of damage from this storm. There will be a lot of opportunities to take advantage,” the Republican governor said in a press conference from Tallahassee Wednesday morning.
“Don’t even think about it. We’re going to come down hard on you, and you’ll regret that you did that,” DeSantis said in his sternly issued warning to would-be looters.
To help enforce the promised crackdown on would-be looters, the state has brought in more than 500 law enforcement officers from neighboring states who will be “maintaining law and order” in the chaotic aftermath of the expected Category 3 hurricane.
Natural disasters have been notorious breeding grounds for unscrupulous individuals looking to score some ill-gotten loot from homes and businesses whose owners have sought shelter elsewhere.
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Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, criminals in New Orleans pilfered all manner of valuables from local businesses, smashing windows and grabbing everything they could get their hands on, including garbage cans stuffed full of clothing and jewelry, NBC News wrote at the time.
In many cases, the thefts took place in full view of cops and National Guard troops, who were too bogged down with other objectives to stop the brazen crimes.