NEW ORLEANS — High waters made law enforcement difficult but provided loads — truckloads in some cases — of opportunity for looters.

A parade of looters streamed from Coleman's Retail Store yesterday afternoon. The looters, men and women who appeared to be in their early teens to mid-40s, braved a steady rain and infrequent tropical-storm wind gusts to tote boxes of clothing and shoes from the store. Some had garbage bags stuffed with goods. Others lugged wardrobe-sized boxes or carried them on their heads.

The line going to and from the store numbered in the dozens and appeared to be growing. Some looters were seen smiling and greeting each other with pleasantries as they passed. Another group was seen riding in the back of a pickup truck, honking the horn and cheering.

The scene also attracted a handful of curious bystanders who left the safety of their homes to watch the heist. But no police were present in the area, which was flooded heavily with standing water 2 to 4 feet deep.

Looting also was reported at a Winn-Dixie Supermarket near the French Quarter and a Shell station in the Mid-City area.

Three people even trudged through the water pulling a blue and white boat toward the gas station, apparently to make it easier to haul goods from the station's convenience store. And they weren't the first to arrive.

Minutes earlier, two teenagers floated two rubber trash cans full of beer, hard liquor and other plunder toward an Interstate-10 overpass. When they reached dry roadway on the span, they abandoned the garbage cans and carried the contents away in blue plastic bags.

One of the young men even shucked a pair of wet jeans when they fell to his ankles and walked away in a red bathing suit.