To the editor:

Yes, there is looting in New Orleans. There would be looting in any situation of this magnitude. But the majority of citizens are doing what they were told to do – waiting at the Superdome for help, at the shelter of “last resort” because there was nowhere else for them to go. When the Superdome was full, people made their way to the convention center to wait. Four days later, there was no food or water for the thousands stranded there.

It’s easy for the editor to say, “Those who have been part of the looting, shooting … should be captured and prosecuted to the fullest. There shouldn’t be any sympathy or sob stories about these criminals ….”

I want to ask the editor, go one day without food, water and shelter. Then, go another day without. On the third day, tell me you wouldn’t break into a grocery store to feed your family.

It’s easy for us to sit in our nice Lawrence homes with our stomachs full and say what others should do. But, place yourselves in their situation.

As I write, my brother is in New Orleans – one of those with no car. On Sunday, I encouraged him to go to the Superdome to ride out the storm. Eighty percent of the people of New Orleans had the means to evacuate. The other 20 percent, the poor and sick, did not.

I continue to wait for my brother to be allowed on a bus to evacuate so he can come and live with us until he can one day return to New Orleans, his home.

Teresa A. Helmick,

Lawrence