Floyd Evacuation Opened Doors for
Burglars
Break-in Rates Triple and Quadruple
Sept. 17, 1999
By Hans H. Chen
SAVANNAH, Ga. (APBnews.com) -- When
Savannah residents abandoned their gracious
antebellum mansions under swaying boughs
of Spanish moss Tuesday, they did so with
the fear of Hurricane Floyd in their hearts.
But upon their return today, several Savannah
residents discovered that the true danger lay not in Mother
Nature but in
fellow man.
Thieves took advantage of the mandatory evacuation order
announced
Monday to break into more than 50 homes in Savannah, police said.
The
Chatham County police reported another 19 burglaries in
unincorporated
areas surrounding Savannah.
Residents made it easy
Police said that's a rate three to four times
higher than normal for a 48-hour period in the
area.
"I'm sure they're going to increase as people
continue to return home," said Cpl. Scott
Simpkins, a spokesman for the Chatham
County Police Department. "Hopefully they
won't. Nineteen's enough."
The burglaries took place despite
round-the-clock patrols by police officers from
both Savannah and Chatham County working
12-hour shifts, but in some cases, residents
made burglaries all too easy, police said.
"Not all of them were forcible entry," Simpkins
said. "One lady left her garage door open, and
the reason was that she was afraid there
wasn't going to be any electricity when she
returned."
Troops patrolled business area
Although troops from the Georgia National Guard began patrolling
shopping
centers and the city's central business area after the storm
passed
Thursday, they did not patrol the city or county while it was
evacuated.
"Our primary role was security yesterday when people were
coming back
in," said Lt. Col. Jim Driscoll, a spokesman for the Georgia
National Guard.
"We ended up seeing only limited deployment."
In Myrtle Beach, S.C., police reported that they arrested 17
people
Tuesday night for violating the 10 p.m. curfew. Several of the
suspects were
arrested lurking about the downtown business area.
"In some cases, we got them before they got to the point of
doing
something they weren't supposed to," said Mark Kruea, a city
spokesman.
Robbers could be neighbors
In Wilmington, N.C., police restricted beach access only to
returning
drivers with the proper residency stickers on their cars.
Although
authorities called the measure a traffic-control issue, limiting
access to
evacuated areas also may have prevented burglaries.
"I wouldn't say it's to keep burglars out," said Kelly
Strickland, an official
with Wrightsville Beach, a community east of Wilmington.
"It's more or less
to keep people out who want to gawk or sightsee."
Police in Savannah, however, had a more difficult task in keeping
homes
safe. The police prevented re-entry into the city by allowing
traffic on the
interstates only to drive outbound. But many Savannah residents
ignored
the evacuation and stayed home.
"It could have been next-door neighbors," Simpkins
said. "Who knows, the
burglars could have been somebody that didn't go out."
This report contains material from the Associated Press.
Hans H. Chen is an APBnews.com staff writer
(hans.chen@apbnews.com).
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