Yes, it is dispiriting to hear that the Houston area is starting to see some cases of looting. The volunteers known as the Cajun Navy reported that someone fired gunshots at them and attempted to steal their boats, although authorities say they haven’t had any reports of shots fired.

About 6.5 million people are in the area affected by Hurricane Harvey, and we shouldn’t be surprised that some people, in a crisis, become stupid, greedy, or malevolent. But this is a handful of souls succumbing to the temptation to do wrong at the worst time, not representative of Houstonians, Texans, or Americans as a whole. The reassuring lesson from witnessing a massive rolling emergency like this is the unbelievable courage, mercy, and compassion that human beings are capable of in the worst of times.

Three members of the Cajun Navy resuscitated a 73-year-old woman they found floating in the water.

KHOU reporter Brandi Smith flagged down a sheriff’s department boat and rescued a stranded truck driver from rising waters.

The senior citizens trapped in waist-deep water in that Dickinson, Texas, nursing home are rescued and safe and sound, relocated to a home on higher ground in Alvin, Texas.

Two Beaumont residents were filming a Facebook Live video of the flooding Sunday when they saw a car drive into the high flood waters of the underpass and lose control. They waded into the chest-deep water and got two people out, helping them to safety.

Officials say more than 6,000 people have been rescued so far.

Disasters can bring out the worst in some human beings, but they bring out the best in far more people.