Civility flys out the door in many bad situations. Look at New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
On another forum there was a gentleman who was of the opinion that the people in NOLA were all scum and that they resorted to raw violence and strong-arm robbery as soon as the chips were down. He cited a video clip that showed a man holding up a young child and asking for diapers and baby food. This was cited as an example of an unprepared thug.