In the wake of Hurricane Beryl's devastating passage through the Houston area, a significant increase in break-ins has struck local businesses struggling to recover, with police data revealing a near-tripling of burglaries. In the days following the category 4 storm, from July 8 to July 14, the Houston Police Department documented an alarming 410 burglaries of buildings, a stark surge from the 153 reported during the same period last year, with many attributing the rise to opportunistic criminals exploiting the chaos and disabled security systems, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
Amidst widespread power outages and the ensuing blackouts, which knocked out alarms and surveillance equipment, the spate of break-ins has only compounded the anguish for business owners such as Lukkaew Srasrisuwan, whose restaurant Thai Tail was victimized by burglars right after Beryl's landfall, resulting in losses upwards of $15,000; however, her insurance only reimbursed $1,200, "I’m still in the middle of it," Srasrisuwan told the Houston Chronicle, as she navigates the aftermath of both the storm and the burglary.
Similarly afflicted, Chanon Yong Sanguanchai of Sala Thai Eatery recounted how his recently opened restaurant was burglarized, with thieves filling a trash can with stolen alcohol, as told to ABC13. Not far away, Dale Peters of Bayou City Seafood lamented the break-in that his establishment suffered, which included burglars making off with multiple garbage cans of liquor, "Your fear is always that people will prey on any situation where power is out," Peters stated in reference to the storm's disruption.
The sharp increase in criminal activity has prompted discussions of legal repercussions, with authorities and residents calling for enhanced punishments for those exploiting disaster scenarios to commit crimes, "My thing would be accountability," Peters asserted, emphasizing the need for criminal accountability in the city according to the interview by ABC13, while Sanguanchai added, "I think it's a time where we should come together and help each other out, but instead, they just took advantage of other people and kind of benefitted themselves, so I think it's really good policy to have at the moment."
