In the wake of a natural disaster, or large protest or assembly gone wrong, looters and other opportunistic thieves can make matters much worse. Looting is stealing, which is never legal (though in matters of life or death, it might be excusable).
Generally, the penalties for looting in any given state will be the same or similar to the penalties for stealing. The various details of how the theft or looting occurs will matter. For instance, if a looter must break a window or door, they may also be facing charges for breaking and entering in addition to theft. However, if the door was open, or window already broken, the charges may simply be theft charges, but those too can vary based on what is taken.
