Desperate men and women fled to their local gas stations in the days leading up to Hurricane Irma to be shown that the price of gas had increased drastically over the past month.

In the most desperate time that Florida has had in awhile, when the people that live here need gas the most, the price of gas went up. Not a small amount, according to GasBuddy.com, the price of regular gas went from $2.18 to $2.67 from August 21 to September 19.

Was there a shortage of oil? No, the price of crude oil has not seen the drastic price jump that we have seen with gas. So what is going on?

The price has risen because of the private sector rising the prices for the amount of people needing gas. Instead of rationing the gas the companies have decided to raise the price to not only make money on the people who need gas but exclude the poor from receiving the gas that they need during this storm.

In times of need the companies that could help the people of Florida decide to profit off of the desperation and needs of others.

This is completely legal and done so during every natural disaster including Hurricane Katrina and the recent Hurricane Harvey.

Attorney General of Florida Pam Bondi has started to crack down on the acts of price gouging.

“Shame on you if you’re trying to gouge someone (for) water, food, baby supplies,” Bondi said, addressing media at an office where staffers process the complaints.

Not even the Attorney General can prosecute the people who are doing this horrible act. There has to be a moral option for these people, instead of the raising of prices to make money these business owners. She has set up a hotline for people who want to report the price gouging in their area (1-866-966-7226)

“You can’t take advantage of your fellow Floridians,” Bondi said. “You can’t do that. And shame on anybody who would want to do that, who wants to make an extra buck and hurt people who are trying to get out of our state.”

This is wrong, gas is the fuel that is used to run the cars of people who need to evacuate and the generators of the people who need electricity.

The fact that someone is trying to make a profit of the absolute human needs of people who are dealing with a hurricane. The fact that someone is greedy enough to try and make money off of people who are desperate to survive is immoral and should be criminal.