As we head into the Memorial Day weekend, a lot of attention is being paid to the price of gasoline. This is no surprise since over 36 million travelers are expected to hit the roads across the country this weekend - at a time when prices for the crude oil used to make fuels are climbing.
Fuel supply restrictions resulting from hurricanes and other natural disasters, often lead to price increases as the market reacts to rebalance supply and demand. To protect consumers, many states have enacted price gouging laws that limit a merchant’s ability to raise prices during an emergency.
Hurricane Irma passed through Florida and into the Southeast over the weekend, and our thoughts and prayers are with the state and its residents as they begin to recover from this devastating storm.
As Hurricane Florence approached the East Coast this week, nearly two million residents throughout the Carolinas, Maryland and Virginia were placed under evacuation watch.
Hurricane Michael, currently graded as a Category 4 storm, made landfall on the Gulf Coast today, directly hitting the Florida Panhandle and potentially impacting more than 300 miles in the region.