Police have warned that, drastic weather conditions have attracted looters, who are targeting damaged businesses and homes in the North of England.
Criminals are taking property left to dry out outside of homes in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. Residents are trying to salvage all they can destroyed by floods, a consequence of the December storms.
Volunteer biker gangs, ironically, are being given the permission by officers to petrol areas, bringing together two often opposing parties.
“As the cleanup of Mytholmroyd, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge continues, we are being made aware of persons attending the area and removing items which are being left outside properties either for disposal or to dry out,” a Calderdale Valleys Police spokesperson said.
The next 48 hours is forecasted to be occupied with the presence of 120mph waves, a strength that can even penetrate sea defences let alone tumble over them.
A bicycle business Cycle Factory near Halifax pleaded to its Facebook followers to find the thieves that stole bikes, listing the information of all bikes that have ‘gone missing’.
“Struggling for words here we got flooded on Saturday as did a lot of people. Last night we were robbed by the scum of the earth preying on flood victims,” said a post by Cycle Factory.
The events resemble the New Orleans Hurricane (Hurricane Katrine), where many homes and business were looted, not always by ‘thieves’, but also by residents who were looting food to try and survive the flood while waiting for services to save them, which took time – the president at the time (George Bush) was heavily criticised for his slow approach to helping the pre-dominantly Black-Americans who were effected by the flood caused by the Hurricane.