Video: Looters Go After Dollar General in Panama City Following Hurricane Michael

Jack Phillips
10/16/2018
Updated:
10/16/2018

More looting was reported and filmed at a dollar store in Panama City, Florida, on Oct. 11 after Hurricane Michael slammed the region.

Video footage emerged that shows a Dollar General in Panama City being looted. People can be seen taking toilet paper, soft drinks, beer, and other items.

One man could be heard saying that he’s going to get a broom. “I’m gonna get a broom,” the man says.

Alekz Londos, who uploaded the video, said that the police told him “that they do not have the manpower or resources to focus on the looting.“ He said that police now just ”drive up and scare” the looters.

Londos also wrote on Instagram: “There is no humanitarian aid being provided, no shelters, no running water, no electricity.”

“People are hungry, thirsty, getting desperate, and of course many people are taking advantage of the situation,” Londos said.

Londos said that he aimed his camera toward the ground so as to not capture the looters’ faces.

More looting was reported and filmed at a dollar store in Panama City, Fla., on Oct. 11, 2018, after Hurricane Michael slammed the region. (Alekz Londos via Storyful)
More looting was reported and filmed at a dollar store in Panama City, Fla., on Oct. 11, 2018, after Hurricane Michael slammed the region. (Alekz Londos via Storyful)

Looter Shot to Death

Days ago, a man was shot and killed after trying to steal a police officer’s car in Panama City, WEAR-TV reported. A witness told the station that he saw a man entering the squad car and yell, “I’m looting.”

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is now investigating the shooting, WEAR reported.

Panama City is currently under curfew from sunset to sunrise, and those caught violating the order will be fined, according to WEAR.

Death Toll Rises

The Weather Channel reported that at least 18 people have died from the storm, which made landfall near Mexico Beach as a Category 4 storm with 155 mph winds.
“FEMA is rapidly trying to meet the demands the governor puts forward when it comes to sustaining life, but in some cases, because of the (severity of the) hit, we’re still focusing on search and rescue in some of the areas like Mexico Beach to make sure we leave no stones unturned and we’re getting to anybody that may be trapped,” Brock Long, the FEMA director, told the Pensacola News Journal.
Boats are seen among the rubble along the canals Oct. 12, 2018, in Mexico Beach, Fla., two days after a Category 4 Hurricane Michael devastated the small coastal town just outside Panama City, Fla. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP)
Boats are seen among the rubble along the canals Oct. 12, 2018, in Mexico Beach, Fla., two days after a Category 4 Hurricane Michael devastated the small coastal town just outside Panama City, Fla. (Pedro Portal/Miami Herald via AP)

“The system is working, but it takes time when you see devastation like this, and we have to set the citizens’ expectations,” Long said. “What’s coming next is citizens are going to get frustrated.”

“I would equate this with a hurricane and an F5 tornado rating but it lasted about three hours. Catastrophic,” Sheriff Glenn Kimbrel of Florida’s Calhoun County said to the Tallahassee Democrat. “Anywhere you travel in this county, it looks like a bomb exploded over, under, in, you name it, in this county.”
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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