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- Hurricane Helene has caused price-gouging complaints to surge in southeastern states.
- Price gouging involves hiking prices excessively on essential goods, often during emergencies.
- South Carolina and North Carolina saw a rise in complaints, mostly about hotels and fuel.
As Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc across southeastern US states, complaints of price gouging have surged.
Price gouging is when businesses hike prices on goods or services to excessive levels, often during emergencies, like a natural disaster, taking advantage of high demand and limited supply.
Business Insider contacted the states worst hit by the hurricane — North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Virginia — and found that several of them were either inundated with complaints of price gouging or had to issue warnings against it.
In South Carolina, which had about 36 storm-related deaths, the Attorney General's office told BI it had documented at least 142 price-gouging complaints since the start of Hurricane Helene.
"Of these, most of the complaints are about hotels, gasoline, gas cans, generators, ice, and eggs," said Robert Kittle, communications director for South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, in an email.
Kittle said in an email that he couldn't name specific businesses accused of price gouging.
But Kittle said the office has gotten reports of stores that have been putting out cases of bottled water for sale, but ringing up customers for each bottle individually, totaling $60.
"When the customers complained, the stores refused to refund their money," Kittle said in an email.
He added that more complaints were expected, noting that they still had 246 voicemails and emails to review.
However, Kittle said not all of the complaints would warrant further investigation or meet the legal definition of price gouging under the state's law.
Wilson, the AG, announced on Thursday that the state's price-gouging law was in effect.
The announcement said that while the state could expect normal price fluctuations, which are legal, it also anticipated "businesses and individuals looking to unfairly take advantage of the situation," which would violate the law.
Kittle said that most of the complaints were coming from upstate South Carolina.
In neighboring North Carolina, which experienced the highest death toll of about 56, there were also dozens of price-gouging complaints.
A spokesperson for the North Carolina Attorney General's Office said the state's Department of Justice had received 64 complaints alleging price gouging in western North Carolina.
Most complaints were about hotel rates as well as grocery and fuel prices, which they said the AG's office was investigating.
In a statement provided to BI, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said: "North Carolina has an anti-price gouging law to make sure that no bad actors try to take advantage of people's desperation."
"My team and I aggressively enforce that law and won't let them," he added.
Stein noted that more complaints might emerge as residents in western North Carolina, heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene, could be facing difficulties connecting to phones or the internet.
Florida, which had about 14 storm-related deaths, also received multiple complaints, though the state did not specify how many.
Kylie Mason, communications director for Attorney General Ashley Moody, told BI they had received complaints "mostly about fuel and water."
On Monday, Moody issued a warning urging Floridians to be "vigilant" for price gouging.
The warning urged anybody suspicious of price gouging on storm-essential items to report it, noting that violators are subject to civil penalties of $1,000 per violation.
The attorneys general of Tennessee, which had about eight deaths connected to Hurricane Helene, and Georgia, with about 25, did not immediately respond to BI's request for data. But both states have issued warnings on price gouging.
Georgia's Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division warned that "although competition and demand drive prices in our free-market economy," Georgia law prohibits businesses from "taking advantage of the situation" during a state of emergency.
It said price increases are only allowed if they reflect legitimate cost increases in stock, transportation, or the retailer's typical markup from the 10 days before the emergency.
Similarly, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti condemned price gouging in a statement on Tuesday, urging victims to contact the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs.
"Price gouging and scamming vulnerable people after disasters is not only repulsive, it's illegal," he said.
In Virginia, which had about two storm-related deaths, there were no complaints of price gouging at the time of reporting.
"While it is still early, we do not have any reports yet," said Shaun Kenney, director of communications for Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, in an email Tuesday.
Kenney added: "The Virginia Attorney General's Office is doing everything we can to inform the public and make them aware of both their rights and the pathways available to move forward on any complaints or concerns."
The issue of price gouging has become a political hot topic in the presidential election cycle, with Vice President Kamala Harris pledging to stop it in the food and grocery industries if she is elected president.
Harris said she plans to pursue the first federal ban on price gouging in response to painful inflation in recent years — a plan that has received mixed reviews from economists.