Police in New Orleans have deployed anti-looting teams to protect property as the city has been devastated by Hurricane Ida, which hit the US state of Louisiana as a Category 4 storm. (It has now weakened into a Category 1.)
"#NOPD has deployed anti-looting teams across the city in order to protect our citizens' property as we continue the recovery process. Looting will NOT be tolerated and encourage everyone to be good neighbors and say something when you see something," New Orleans Police Department said in a statement posted on Facebook on Monday.
Reports of looting incidents came on Monday, after New Orleans was left without electricity as energy facilities were damaged due to the hurricane.
Footage circulating online purportedly shows citizens engaging in criminal behavior as stores are seen plundered and trashed.
Drone footage also captured a looter trying to break into an ATM machine in an area reportedly burned down hours earlier before he realizes he is not alone there.
Police have already arrested some of the criminals they have been able to identify, according to Fox News.