I feel compelled to point out that here we are well into a really, really bad situation with the destruction of core infrastructure, urban power failures, tens of thousands of people unable to go home, gas shortages...and based on the chitter-chatter I've read n the past (here and elsewhere) - we should be well into zombie apocalypse territory by now. It's not happening that way. People are helping. the vast majority of people are banding together and helping solve the problems as best they can. There are no roving bands of armed mercenaries. There are no riots. There are some fights over gas - yes, I see that too. And order is being maintained.

I prefer to plan for reality, not a Mad Max fantasy.

Why would you expect there to be riots? What the northeast is going through right now would best be described as "short term inconvenience". I realize that may not be the way it feels if you're in the middle of it (I am not personally). But realistically, we have hurricanes - storms - tornados - forest fires, etc. quite frequently and those affected are rapidly helped by the rest of the country. Storms are not the end of the world, except for the few folks unfortunate enough to die in one. In general, life goes on and returns to normal within a few months to a year or two.

Now, if this storm marked the end of power, clean water, gasoline, etc. PERMANENTLY in the northeast, I think things would be different and riots and armed mobs might well ensue shortly in the future. But the chances of a permanent outage, just like the civil unrest this would cause, are quite remote.

Riots generally require a combined group grievance, some organization and some dynamism during warm sunny weather.

The grievance might come to bear in the next few days, but sunny warm sunny weather is lacking. Organization is non existent and dynamism sorely lacking whilst standing in line in the petrol queue in the cold rain whilst cold and hungry whilst blaming the folks in front of the queue for just being there.

But then again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIVfbylUU-M

Have there been riots after ANY hurricane?



Just saying. There's looters, but that's pretty normal. There's the standard stories in some news outlets, and the blatant disregard of these stories in others. But I've never heard of a riot after any real natural disaster - why would this be different?

It takes a long time for discontent to turn to a rage so fierce that the only way to express yourself is through violence and destruction. The pre-storm estimates predicted 7-10 days, possibly as long as 14 in some areas, and recovery looks to be on-track with that. Urban areas are being given priority attention for a variety of reasons. Police presence has increased at least 100% in all areas, more like 200% in urban hot-spots. For example, in Jersey City you there is practically no place you can go where there isn't a squad car in view. Strict 6PM curfews were widely implemented.

The only incidents of rioting were minor and limited to gas stations. Now all operating gas stations have a permanent police team posted.

But tempers are starting to heat-up as the temperatures drop. I do expect some demonstrations to begin taking place if power isn't restored shortly to the low-income projects that still remain dark. Whether these turn into riots or not depends largely on how officials react. So far, officials seem to be doing a good job.

Haertig's comments are well taken, but do not adequately consider the dynamics. I won't venture far off-topic here, but the tri-state area does not have a history of these types of disasters. Sandy is the third hurricane to directly hit the state, tornados are rare, small and short-lived, earthquakes and major forest fires non-existent.

But no, there has been no rioting, and none is expected. Things might look differently in a week or so.

I think the biggest reason there hasn't been much rioting is because the weather has been cold and the police and national guard presence here has been significant. I mean, every time a gas station got gas around here the police or national guard were called in almost immediately, supplying multiple people to organize things and keep order. When people would get angry that the station ran out of gas, the police or national guard would force them to leave. Otherwise, you would have huge groups of people sitting around at gas stations waiting for gas.

With that said, there has been plenty of stealing and looting. My landscaper had his yard and trailers broken into, and all his gas stolen. The auto repair garage around the corner had all the cars in his lot siphoned or punched for gas. Generators are being stolen right and left if they aren't chained down. Someone even stole the generator that was powering the street lights at a major 4-way intersection by my house.

A lot of people are being helpful and friendly, which is great. But, you've still got a large population of people who are getting very aggravated and less courteous by the minute. A longer term emergency, especially one with little police/troop presence, would definitely have me very worried.

I can't recall there ever being a riot after a natural disaster. Riots are mostly about theft and wanton damage and the storm has already done a lot of damage in areas where riots might otherwise be likely.

Lots of police presence and cold weather are also serious deterrents.

Wait till tomorrow though. As we know, there is one part of the political spectrum in the US that may well riot if their candidate loses [you know how them Mormons are :)]. Although, the most likely spot for a riot is experiencing cold temperatures and rain, which could well dampen the enthusiasm for rioting.

As you say: Priority on power restoration is probably going to depend on your value to the utility companies. Which is not to their credit. Be thankful that ordinary decent people are made of better stuff.

As someone said, there is still plenty of looting and stealing. I have noticed stealing and looting to increase whenever the masses get a general sense in the air that no real law enforcement is around.

In my neighborhood, I highly doubt a riot would ever occur for anything. However, I expect stealing and looting to occur if we experienced, for example, a prolonged power outage or other catastrophic event. I keep myself aware of this concept when preparing for survival situations.

I get the impression that some folks will be disapointed if there aren't any riots.