By Victoria Mejicanos, Oct. 22, 2024
“I can say this without any dramatization, whatsoever; if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die,” said Tampa mayor Jane Castor in an interview with CNN three days before Hurricane Milton was set to hit Florida.
John Morales, a meteorologist from Florida who has guided people through multiple hurricanes, shed tears on live television on the same day as he reported on the devastation that was to occur.
Through tears, he said, “I apologize, this is going to be horrific.”
When people criticized those who chose not to leave, I found myself angry; evacuations take money and time many Americans don’t have.
I grew angrier as I realized there were airlines, hotels and gas stations literally trying to profit off a natural disaster.
According to a local ABC news station in Florida, in a sampling of complaints provided by the attorney generals office, a Tampa resident alleged the following: “every time there’s a hurricane or state of emergency, this gas station requires customers to purchase premium gas. Regular gas pumps are shut off,” the complainant wrote.
Another complaint provided by the attorney general’s office accused a gas station in Pinellas County of raising gas prices by 10 cents even after a state of emergency was declared.
At one point there were entire areas of Florida where gas was no longer available, and it continues to be a problem as the state recovers.
Price gouging, according to the Public Interest Research Group, is when extraordinarily high prices emerge, specifically a 20% increase or higher. It is also considered price gouging when one brand is double or more than a competitor.
Price gouging typically happens in times of distress prior to a disaster, and it can also occur after a disaster. Companies, as well as individual re-sellers, will take advantage of a vulnerable time and profit.
For example, according to an Associated Press news article from 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, some stores were selling toilet paper for $10 a roll.
According to NPR, there were hundreds of complaints of price gouging before and after hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Growing up in a family of six, there were times we barely could afford food and water. I can’t imagine being in an emergency, knowing my parents had no savings and could barely afford rent and food let alone being told to prepare and evacuate to a hotel farther away from disaster.
In a Emergency Preparedness Survey conducted by the University of Florida in 2021, more than half of Floridians reported a lack of financial resources as a reason for not evacuating a storm. About 42.8% reported having less than $10,000 to cover emergency expenses.
Not only do people have to worry about the inability to leave and survive, but also the aftermath; the cost to repair and rebuild what’s been lost is unthinkable.
According to CBS News, the total cost in damages for both hurricanes Milton and Helene are to reach $50 billion. Additionally, according to CBS news, many homeowners affected by the hurricanes do not have insurance.
In a TikTok posted by CBS Morning News, Yamilet Barrio, a Tampa resident, explained she received her Section 8 housing assistance after waiting several years, and now the home that she has because of that assistance has been destroyed.
Being told you are going to die from every point of authority in your area — like the mayor, the governor and local police — while news outlets publicize on every platform is a reality people should not have to face just because they aren’t wealthy enough. The amount of money a person has or doesn’t have should not determine their life.
Americans are people, not dollar signs, and I’m tired of them being treated as such.
According to Vox, only 37 states have some type of law against price gouging. However, the limits administered by states are not always clear.
As Vox explains it, “If the price of food, water, or gas, for example, ‘grossly exceeds’ the average prices seen in the 30 days before the state of emergency, that’s illegal — but it’s not clear what ‘grossly exceeds’ exactly means.”
The article also mentions a “price increase threshold” certain states have, defining it as a 10% increase of the pricing for consumer goods and services.
There are people with real needs and stories behind every purchase in America. In a person’s grocery cart, there are family recipes being replicated. At the gas station, there are several cars that people worked hard to purchase. At hotels, there are people seeking a home away from home. It shouldn’t take mass distress for those things to change.
Feature graphic by Teresa Acosta
