America's wealth and general well-being have bought us forgetfulness. We gaze on images of suffering from natural disasters that strike poorer countries and can't quite picture this nation succumbing to the same dark impulses.

Looting, whether fueled by need or greed. Violent strikes at rescuers who pass by en route to saving another, seemingly more desperate neighbor or stranger. Mob scenes at buses that arrive to evacuate hurricane survivors from one shelter to another. These are horrors that occur in some other place, right?

Think again.

Hurricane Katrina has proved those pretentions wrong.

Thieves have taken not food or medical supplies but appliances and other non-critical merchandise from store shelves. Federal emergency teams have called off operations in some spots after the outbreak of gunfire, potshots being taken at helicopters heading to rescue patients at hospitals. Media covering the hurricane aftermath are warned against eating or drinking in public, which could anger the needy in the area, and against remaining in disaster zones after nightfall.

Those darker impulses exist in all of us.

Fortunately, so do the heroic ones.

Americans have gleaned some relief from reports of many examples of kindness interspersed with stories of violence and looting. Texas, for example, has extended its hospitality to its homeless neighbors, opening the Houston Astrodome to some 18,000 evacuees so far. The heartfelt outpouring of assistance to bereft families is reassuring.

All of this should give Hawai'i occasion to wonder: How would the Aloha State fare under similar circumstances?

We all hope our strong community bonds, our sense of 'ohana, would hold up under such pressure. That hope is inspired by recollections of neighbors helping neighbors during Hurricane 'Iniki and more recent, lesser storms.

The distress of our southern states gives everyone the basis for offering more help to all countries beset by natural disaster.

Americans can reflect on these events and respond with empathy because, indeed, it has happened to us.