Pentagon Reports Looting in Hugo's Wake

CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands--Hundreds of heavily armed military police and FBI agents arrived yesterday at St. Croix to help stop looting that has plagued the island since it was ravaged by Hurricane Hugo.

In Washington, a top Pentagon official said the American forces found "chaos and near anarchy" upon arrival in this popular U.S. resort, but the White House later said the situation was improving.

Meanwhile, the storm advanced faster and with renewed fury yesterday on Georgia and South Carolina as a flood of coastal residents grabbed what they could carry and fled inland on jammed highways.

By late afternoon Hugo was upgraded to category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength, the second mightiest category. The storm's winds increased to 135 m.p.h., up from 105 the day before.

The Marine Radio Band, monitored on nearby St. Thomas, said two looters had been shot in St. Croix, which is the largest and most populous island of the chain. However, there was no word of their condition or independent confirmation.

People were reported carrying guns after widespread looting convulsed the island, which still lacks water, power and telephone service in the wake of Hugo's wrath.

Hugo damaged virtually every building on the island of 53,000. The island's governor said there were no deaths, but hundreds were reported injured and thousands left homeless.

The first contingent of U.S. military personnel landed at 7:40 a.m. EDT on the island and moved quickly to establish a mobile control tower and prepare the airfield for the arrival of an estimated 1105 military police, said Lt. Cmdr. Ned Lundquist, a Pentagon spokesperson.

At noon yesterday, three C-140 transport planes unloaded about 150 soldiers from Fort Bragg and four-wheel drive vans for 60 FBI agents and 50 federal marshals who also arrived yesterday.

By late afternoon yesterday, five aircraft carrying a total of 230 people and 105 tons of cargo had arrived on St. Croix. Three more aircraft were en route with 120 people and 40 additional tons of cargo, Pentagon officials said.

Longsworth said the rest of the soldiers were to arrive later yesterday and today. He said most of the units consist of military police.

"Martial law has not been declared. We are just here to assist local authorities. We are authorized to make arrests only in the total absence of local authorities," Longsworth said.

By late yesterday the helmeted, heavily armed soldiers, equipped with flak jackets and backpacks, were still at the airport and had not been deployed in town. Federal marshals, however, were already there.