Some people, it seems, never learn. If you live an area that is prone to evacuations, wouldnt it make sense to stash enough gasoline on hand to get outta town without having to stop for fuel? Heck, you could even stage fuel at points along your proposed evacuation routes. But, some folks don’t ever seem to learn.
I’m not sure how I feel about price gouging. I’m against .gov telling anyone what price they can or cannot sell a product at. If .gov could jump on a station owner for raising prices on the argument that the public has no choice about the purchasing, then couldn’t ‘gov also force the station owner to keep the station open if he decided to just close shop entirely for the emergency?
This sort of thing is why we keep stored (and stabilized) fuel on hand. To my way of thinking, MPG x gallons stored / 2 = effective range. So, if we have 60 gallons on hand, and the truck gets 15 mpg, thats 900 miles, right? Wrong. I figure a 50% penalty ‘just in case’ for things like detours, backtracking, stop-n-go, idling in traffic, etc, etc. So, to my way of thinking, that’s really a 450-mile range.
Truly, I am amazed that people who would live in a region where an evacuation due to hurricane is likely would not have supplies and fuel in place for this sort of thing.
I just have a real hard time being sympathetic for folks who have issues with hurricanes. It isn’t like they basically happen every year and have a clearly defined season or anything. Oh wait a second that is actually the situation. Store a few hundred bucks in small bills, a half dozen 5 gallon gas cans, some food, water, a battery powered radio and flashlights, extra batteries, at least a few boxes of ammo for the family boom stick(s) and have insurance. This really isn’t rocket science.
Every single time a hurricane threatens the south Texas coast where I live it’s the same thing. Sheeple flock to Home Depot and clean them out of plywood. The grocery and convenience stores are stripped bare of bottled water (and beer). The junk food aisles are decimated. And the lines at the gas pumps spill out into the road. Every single time. I used to be amazed, but now I realize that most people are just stupid…
I don’t store gas*, but then I hardly use any gas and I top off my tank a lot. My tank’s almost always full.
Gas stations are everywhere and it only takes a couple of minutes to fill up, there’s no reason to be driving around on an empty tank.
*I grew up around commercial fishing boats and saw a couple of boat fires as a kid. Never liked being around gasoline after that.
I never used to have an opinion other than I’ll never live near a hurricane area… but after just seeing “The grocery and convenience stores are stripped bare of bottled water (and beer).” BEER? People run out of BEER? This… this is unacceptable. I mean, cmon people… this may be the midwest/Wisconsin in me but how on earth can you not plan to have enough beer around?
Seriously though, bury me in four feet of snow at home again and all that before living anywhere near a Hurricane area. I have a bad enough luck streak with the ladies, my luck says some name like Rita would come up and destroy everything I own. And the hurricane would be the only thing blowing me away.
Thank you, thank you! I’ll be here all week!
TMB
Too Many Dumbasses.
:::ahem::: ….”TMB“?
Gotta admit, that’s some irony right there.
I know how I feel about “gouging” laws: they are half he reason that there’s shortages these days. Seriously, the brass at Home Depot can watch the news just like we can, and they are fully capable of having a dozen truckloads of plywood and tarps anywhere in the contiguous 48 within 24 hours. But, it costs them money to inconvience us folks elsewhere in the US, and to pay them truckers overtime, so you gotta make that trade off worthwhile.
Theres too much emphasis on stupid feel good legislation. The market can solve an amazing number of problems. Too bad our idiot politicians don’t want to solve this particular one.
“Gouging” = “somebody charging a price I don’t approve of.”
What do they call that loathsome political and economic system again? The one where the State decides what prices are charged, rather than the market? Starts with an “s,” if I recall…….?
Thank heaven someone else sees ‘price gouging’ for what it is…the exercise of freedom and the capitalization (pun intended) on the laws of supply and demand. The market will punish those who gouge unnecessarily. If a business isn’t free to raise prices in unusual circumstances what business will take the risk to bring in extra supplies when it’s more expensive and difficult…the ability to raise prices guarantees availability.
Well, really, it’s somewhat similar to what happens when price controls are put in – shortages result. If, after a hurricane, batteries were kept at the pre-hurricane price people would come in and clean out the shelf. Jack the price up and folks wind up buying what they need, maybe a little more, and the supply is maintained a bit longer.