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Associated Press

Armed looters are targeting homes and businesses in Florida that still do not have electricity after being ravaged by Hurricane Michael a week ago.
Bay County Sheriff’s Major Jimmy Stanford said deputies have arrested about 10 looters every night since the state took a direct hit from the strong Category 4 storm last Wednesday. In some parts of the county, people have spray-painted signs warning that “looters will be shot”.
Callaway resident Victoria Smith told The News Herald that thieves came into her home while she and her four children were asleep with the front door open to allow a breeze inside.

“I must’ve been so exhausted from everything in the past days I didn’t even hear them come in,” Smith said. “They just snatched my purse out of my hands and ran … It was all we had.”
Often the looters are armed, Stanford said.
Man caught trying to loot bank with excavator in southern China
“Most of our officers lost their homes, have been working 16 to 18-hour shifts with no sleep, no shower, and now they’re encountering armed individuals,” he said. “It’s a stressful time for everyone in Bay County.”
The storm killed at least 16 people in Florida, most of them in the coastal county that took a direct hit, state emergency authorities said on Tuesday. At least 10 deaths have been reported elsewhere.

The scope of the storm’s fury became clearer after nearly a week of missing-persons reports and desperate searches of the Florida Panhandle neighbourhoods devastated by the most powerful hurricane to hit the continental US in nearly 50 years.
Bay County includes Mexico Beach, the ground-zero town of 1,000 people that was nearly obliterated.
Burglars arrested with HK$180,000 loot in McDonald’s
Nearly 137,000 Florida customers are still without power in an 11-county region that stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Georgia border, according to information compiled by state emergency management officials.
Mobile phone service has started returning to the stricken zone, including Panama City, where residents haven’t been able to contact loved ones or call for help. One telecommunications company said it would give a three-month credit to customers in Bay and Gulf counties.


Governor Rick Scott had been criticising phone companies over what he called a slow restoration of service.
Sitting outside in the sweltering heat in Panama City fanning herself with a flyswatter, Christy Tanksley said the sudden improvement in mobile service was a huge relief.
“A lot of people didn’t even know we had evacuated and come back,” said Tanksley. “I turned my phone on this morning and it started going crazy. There were all kinds of messages, Facebook notifications, emails and emergency alerts.”



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United States

Hurricane Michael: powerless victims in Florida are being targeted by armed looters

Shauna Benefield and Alex Edwards stand near a sign warning looters in front of their house in Marianna, Florida. Photo: AP

Residents use flashlights to navigate the dark walkways at night at the damaged American Quality Lodge where they continue to live in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, in Panama City, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. Nighttime means relief from the heat, yet it also brings the threat of looters, who residents say have taken money, jewelry, food and even rain-soaked clothes from rooms ripped apart and left open to the elements by Michael. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Ron Hyatt spray paints a message to warn off looters outside his damaged home from Hurricane Michael in Callaway, Fla., Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Tasha Whitt sits by a window in her candlelit room at the damaged American Quality Lodge where she continues to live in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, in Panama City, Fla., Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. Whitt, who broke her foot during the storm, worries about looters at night who residents say have taken money, jewelry, food and even rain-soaked clothes from rooms ripped apart and left open to the elements by Michael. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Couple stranded by Hurricane Michael spells ‘HELP’ on lawn, is then rescued after niece spots it on map

Amber Gee was searching the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration interactive map and found HELP spelt out in logs on the lawn

PANAMA CITY, FL - OCTOBER 15: Residents in Water's Edge RV Park repair damage caused by Hurricane Michael on October 15, 2018 in Panama City, Florida. Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle on October 10, as a category 4 storm causing massive damage and claiming more that 15 lives. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

A Florida family awaiting assistance after Hurricane Michael was found after the HELP sign they made out of tree logs was photographed by an aerial team and then found by a niece. Photo: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Search teams comb debris for victims of Hurricane Michael as death toll expected to rise

About 1.5 million homes and businesses were without power from Florida to Virginia early on Friday, following the arrival of the hurricane, which continued inland as a dangerous storm

In this image made from video and provided by SevereStudios.com, damage from Hurricane Michael is seen in Mexico Beach, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. Search-and-rescue teams fanned out across the Florida Panhandle to reach trapped people in Michael's wake Thursday as daylight yielded scenes of rows upon rows of houses smashed to pieces by the third-most powerful hurricane on record to hit the continental U.S. (SevereStudios.com via AP)

A gas station lies in ruin in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael on October 12, 2018 in Panama City, Florida. - Search and rescue teams faced a second day of sifting through the ruined landscape left by Hurricane Michael on Friday as the death toll rose to 11. (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP)

A boat sits amidst debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

People walk amid destruction on the main street of Mexico Beach, Florida, in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael on Thursday. Photo: AP Photo

Monstrous Hurricane Michael tears into Florida

Fierce storm downgraded as the eye moved across southwestern Georgia

PANAMA CITY, FL - OCTOBER 10: People look on at a damaged store after Hurricane Michael passed through on October 10, 2018 in Panama City, Florida. Michael made landfall at Mexico Beach today a Category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph, the most powerful storm ever to hit the Florida Panhandle. Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

PANAMA CITY, FL - OCTOBER 10: A stores windows are seen shattered as hurricane Michael passed through the downtown area on October 10, 2018 in Panama City, Florida. The hurricane hit the Florida Panhandle as a category 4 storm. Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Mcdonald's Corp. signage stands damaged from Hurricane Michael in Panama City Beach, Florida, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. Investors are tracking Hurricane Michael as it barrels toward Florida with winds strengthening to 145 miles per hour, posing potential consequences for companies in the building, hospital, insurance and energy industries, among others. The Category 4 storm, poised to be the strongest to hit the continental U.S. since 2004, is expected to make landfall Wednesday and could cause $16 billion in damage. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg

Michael, whose rapid intensification as it churned north over the Gulf of Mexico caught many by surprise, made landfall early in the afternoon near Mexico Beach, about 32 km southeast of Panama City, Florida. Photo: AFP

‘Monstrous’ Hurricane Michael leaves Florida and Alabama bracing for impact

People swim in the turbulent sea at a beach in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, on Sunday, as the depression that would become Hurricane Michael passes by. Photo: EPA-EFE

epa07079645 View of the effects of the maritime depression, consequence of Hurricane Michel, in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico, 08 October 2018. Hurricane Michel will cause heavy storms in Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo and winds above 60 km / h are expected with waves of 2 to 3 meters on the coasts of Yucatan and Quintana Roo, and up to 50 km / h on the coast of Campeche. Tropical Storm Michael became today a hurricane causing strong winds and rains in western Cuba to the northwest coast of Florida (USA), a region where Governor Rick Scott has already decreed a state of emergency. EPA-EFE/Alonso Cupul

Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Andrew Gillum, left, helps Eboni Sipling fill up sandbags in Tallahassee, Fla., Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Residents in Florida's Panhandle and Big Bend are getting ready for Hurricane Michael, which is expected to make landfall by midweek. (AP Photo/Gary Fineout)

This NOAA/RAMMB satellite image taken on October 8, 2018 at 14:30 UTC shows Tropical storm Michael off the US Gulf Coast. - Tropical storm Michael was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane on October 8, 2018 as it barreled toward the US Gulf Coast packing maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, meteorologists said.The weather system was located between Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and the west coast of Cuba by 1500 GMT and was heading slowly towards the northern Gulf Coast of Florida, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.It is expected to hit major hurricane strength and move inland over the Florida Panhandle or Florida Big Bend area on Wednesday, and then northeastward across the southeastern United States through Thursday. (Photo by HO / NOAA/RAMMB / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / NOAA/RAMMB" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

epa07079543 General view before the arrival of Hurricane Michael, Havana, Cuba, 08 October 2018. Cuban authorities decreed the first phase of the hurricanes protocol in five west provinces including Havana before the storm hits the island. Michael was upgraded on 08 October from a tropical storm to a category 1 Hurricane and is expected to continue to strengthen. EPA-EFE/Yander Zamora

Hurricane Michael: powerless victims in Florida are being targeted by armed looters

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Police in one county say they pick up about 10 people every night for looting

Police in one county say they pick up about 10 people every night for looting