In New York City, looters ran amok during the 1977 blackout, causing $1 billion in damage. After 9/11, when almost every available police officer was on homeland-security detail, there was no crime to speak of in New York City anywhere. The situations are clearly not analogous — power and water were in abundant supply, and nobody beyond Lower Manhattan had their homes destroyed. People in New Orleans need all the food and water and diapers and aspirin etc. they can get, and as people from left to right have been saying, such actions out of necessity are understandable. But even so, the reestablishment of civil order in New York in the years before 9/11 was vital when it came to keeping the city calm after the attacks. Strong leadership made the difference — which is why you need it BEFORE a trauma.