Prices, lines, purchase limits fueling concern

The Clarion-Ledger, 9/13/8

Hurricane Ike’s effects were felt well inland in Mississippi on Friday.

But the concern wasn’t so much over damaging winds or crippling storm surge as claims of price-gouging at gas stations and shortages in supplies.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says his office had received more than 150 complaints of alleged price-gouging by Friday afternoon at gas stations statewide as Hurricane Ike approached Texas.

The complaints claim gas prices have risen by any where from 15 cents to $1 a gallon at various stations in recent days, Hood said, as Ike’s vast size could impact gas availability and prices in Mississippi.