While I didn't pontificate any doom here or elsewhere, I think this thread needs a counter-point. :-)

First, I'm unsurprised that things were orderly and that I think that serious social disorder is not a likely outcome of a natural disaster all things being equal. But I'm not sure why you seem to suggest we can draw a sweeping generalization based on this latest event.

Clearly riots / serious social disorder does occur. The LA riots showed us this can happen, even in modern America. If something can happen, it likely will happen again at some point. Perhaps not commonly, but the same can be said up here in the for a large earthquake, tornado, for your house burning down, your car getting stuck in a snowstorm, a chemical spill, your car crashing, whatever.

Personally, I think in a short term natural disaster, people are likely to work together for the most part. I don't see a large correlation between natural disasters and social unrest.

That said, social unrest is just another infrequent, but possible risk and I'm not sure why we'd hold it up and suggest it is less worth being prepared for than a chemical spill or some other infrequent risk and why you think people who might consider it in their preparations have jumped the shark more than for preparing for some other low risk event.

*shrug*

-john

Alright, we have an election-related riot, so it does happen:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/11/07/ole-miss-students-protest-obamas-re-election/

I'm not sure what AKSAR means for us to gather from the bolded portion. He can't be suggesting that we don't have to worry about riots because property damage doesn't always occur. Anyway, thanks for the additional information. It's reassuring, but not entirely. It seems to me a good idea to avoid "400 people with shouted racial slurs" (whatever that means). Such a situation could quickly turn ugly, I'd think.

So perhaps it's a good idea to take the possibility of election-related riots more seriously. I didn't think it at all a possibility for my location, but now I see that in some places, riots are more probable than others. Maybe this is something we need to think about.

You're joking, right? I like how the media put in the word "riot" to sell a story. However, any gathering where you can calmly drive through with a camera and give commentary is NOT a riot. I think at many colleges you could call that "Friday night before the game."

Situational awareness,a good thing.

A group of folks in a parking lot doesn't constitute a riot. Look at any tailgate party.

I agree that it is a good idea to avoid groups of people making racial slurs. I was raised in Mississippi as a young lad. I left the state when I was ten and never looked back.

Do we rate riots like we do tropical storms? If so, this would be a tropical depression - probably a very appropriate term for this incident. The disturbance following the SF Giant's four game sweep (fires, property destruction) would be a tropical storm. Hurricane designation requires overturning and burning of vehicles.....

It would be wise to avoid any of these, whatever their cause

OP has a good title, but muddles the thesis by conflating disaster related rioting with political rioting. There were predictions of post election rioting on this forum and in the news, as there were predictions that the electoral college results would be close. Neither event came to pass. But talking about close elections and riots promote media viewership. and close election worries encourage voters to turn out and vote. It appears that the media and politicos say what is in their best interest, rather than adhere to a slavish devotion to truth.

I am shocked. Shocked I tell you...

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and remember that the media are involved in entertainment, not education, which blurs the distinction between the six o'clock news and roadrunner cartoons.

I think Am Fear and Nighthiker did a good job of explaining the base dynamic behind a riot.

With a natural disaster, organized or (more likely) opportunistic looting is what you are going to get. The only time I've witnessed looting in the US first hand was during an ice storm. Some areas were without power for over a month. We were lucky and only lost power for 4 days. We saw a few cars cruising areas without power looking for easy pickings. It didn't take much effort on our part to appear to present more of a challenge than they were willing to deal with.

From 1500 miles away it's hard to know what the situation on the ground really is in the areas affected by Sandy. I pray that for the most part, people are banding together and taking care of each other. They still have a rough bit in front of them.