“…two automatic teller machines were broken open, a bank was robbed and a supermarket emptied, its floor littered with mashed plums, scattered dog food and smashed liquor bottles.”
via Chile earthquake: Military takes control as death toll passes 700 | Mail Online.
I’m looking at the looting going on after the Chile 8.8 quake: and I’m wondering, could you live off the contents of your cupboard for 72 hours? W/o running water too? W/o access to ATMs and/or with credit card machines down?
I admit, for most of the United States help is only the next county or state away, but I live in Los Angeles. This is a desert and living here is only made possible because of the fantastic transportation network and access to running water brought in from outside the valley. There are mountains that cut us off from the East and freeways that connect us to communites to the South and North. If something close to a 7.o quake close to the surface ever happened nearer to L.A. proper then we’re f@cked. The freeways are the only way to get anywhere quickly here and the population density is DENSE. Grocery stores in any cut off regions would go dry in a matter of hours. The crooks would be out knocking off banks and ATMs almost immediately.
The big killer here (after collapesed buildings) would be fires. Most of the flora here is not native and would die off quickly once water is unavailble, it then becomes dry tender within a short time… but with blocked roads and rubble in the streets… and with many fires spread over the city then I can forsee the Fire Departments breaking down pretty quickly… especially if the water pressure is affected.
We could expect a major relief effort to commence almost immediatly via the national guard and other military units from nearby counties and states but again, if the transportation system is fatally compormised (weakend bridges, underpasses, tunnels, plus rubble and abandanded vehicles and refugees) then getting the troops and relief supplies has to done by airlift. And that is just darned inefficient and sporadic. We have plenty of regional airfields but they are spread out and I imagine roads leading away from them will be rubble strewn as well.
The big thing is going to be road blockage. Supplies can brought in via ocean transport and via air, but if you can’t get it to the communites then the trouble starts.
It is thuse that I read the stories of looting and crime comming out of Chile with great interest.
