ok, as we all know hurricane ike has shut down refineries in texas. and you know how it goes, the gas jumps up a dollar and all of that, people are rushing out and getting gas and shutting down gas stations everywhere and leaving poorer people like me out to dry. they are only raising the prices even futher by doing that. what are your opinions?
A famous example of price gouging was hurricane Katrina, where some gas stations were charging more for gasoline than before the storm. That they would do this makes perfect sense. The demand for gasoline jumped dramatically while the gas station’s prospects for new supply were the same, or in many cases, lower. By charging more for gas, gas stations could ensure that they would have enough gasoline remaining until they were resupplied.
If they charged the pre-disaster price, they would quickly run out of gas, and no gas would be available at any price.
Why would responding to market conditions be in any way immoral? Isn’t the availability of gas (or any product) at some price better than having no gas at all?
aeriol7: that a fixed number supplied by you is sufficient to describe all market conditions is amusing
…children"
Day 1: You did it! Even though there were numerous warnings that Hurricane Ike was coming, rather than leave your home, for some very deep personal reason you decide to remain. You are knowledgeable about hurricanes. You know that you will be faced with the following: Winds in excess of 115 MPH, Waves up to 25 feet, potential Flooding potentially up to 25 feet, lose of electricity, lose of fresh water, lose of sewage, no medical aid, animals running wild (to include a tiger), no cell or phone service, no 911, police, or fire department, and after the storm hits, you are on your own for the next 72 hours. You can’t just go to the grocery store and stock up on food supplies and bottled water because people panicked and have already cleared the shelves. Gas stations have exhausted their supply of fuel. It is now too late to leave. The storm will hit in 8 hours. What would you do? (I just came back from helping work crews in Galveston, TX)
Why is it that when oil drops by or more a barrel the gas prices barely come down. The gas station owners claim that they have "too much supply". Yet when there is even a threat of a hurricane, or a maintenance issue at a oil rig or derrick gas prices jump immediately. Why is this supply suddenly "gone"?
Is this greed on the part of the big oil companies, the local gas stations, or is some kind of collusion going on? Isn’t price fixing illegal?
How come hurricanes didn’t have a major impact on gas prices 10 or 20 years ago? How many people will freeze this winter?
I’m in Houston :(..I’m really hoping that Ike is the same as Gustav…
Emergency Supplies:
Bottled Water
Some band-aids
canned peaches
the grocery store nearby is EMPTY…the only stuff left is the perishable stuff and really unhealthy crap that I refuse to eat…it’s also kind of sad that they ran out of beer before they ran out of water and ice…
There is like 6 gas stations in my town, and they were all out of gas until like 30 min ago….
ugh..I’m freaking out 
The last hurricane that passed through were the gas stations equipped with backup generators, were the shelters properly surveyed for proper usage, were inventory made on food and medical supplies that could be made available for use after the disaster passed away. Were the hospital and other emergency establishments equipment with backup generators. We should always be prepared,the season will soon be here again. Just look around you and what do you see?
Two years ago most people evacuated during Hurricane Rita, this year people are more reluctant because it turned out to be hellish since people ran out of gas, gas stations closed, some even ran out of supplies, and the traffic is agonizing under the hot weather.
I wonder if "Houstonians" are taking enough precautions. Is Dean going to hit Houston, if so how bad?
According to the link below the situation is not very alarming for the Houston area, http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/
A lot of my local gas stations are out of gas due to the hurricane and panic of people. When do gas stations refill their supply?