Victims of Sandy turn to underground gas

Anytime a shortage of almost any commodity exhibits itself, the next thing is typically a black market. For example, a gas shortage on the east coast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy has led to black market gasoline sales being observed, with some shocking overtones. Article resource: Why not necessarily arrive view us all today for[URL]https://personalmoneynetwork.com/?[/url]

Getting gasoline for $20 a gallon

Hurricane Sandy has wrecked large swathes of the east coast of the United States, such as massive damages to parts of New York and New Jersey. Amid deaths and more severe damage that has left numerous people homeless, the storm also severely interrupted the supply of gas in that part of the country.

The Huffington Post reports that ads on Craigslist are selling gas for $20 to $30 a gallon in the black market. The black market often creeps up after disasters when a commodity becomes scarce. People are willing to pay to get the item.

Paying a ton for gas cans

ABC quoted one man who got 500 gallons of gasoline before the storm and sold the whole thing at $11 per gallon. There were a lot of other people who stocked up realizing people would want to extra gas after the storm. Fuel was being sold from $8 per gallon to $20 per gallon, and some sold five gallon parcels for $70 to $100. The costs were mainly seen on Craigslist, according to New York magazine.

People have been selling gasoline cans for $40 or up to $200 for a five-gallon container, according to ABC. Normally, these cans are only a few dollars, but everyone wants them.

Some people get short term loans to pay for the gas, and some may even need lawyers considering it is illegal to markup costs over 10 percent during a disaster. Everything is done anonymously.

Not an uncommon black market item

There are a ton of items on the black market all the time. There was one employee in California that was selling 800 gallons of the city’s supply, and that employee was arrested in May. There are many people who want black market items, and so they are there, according to the Los Angeles Times.

It's not even new for New York. In February, when gas costs were more than $4 per gallon in the city, a number of people were leaving the city, buying large amounts of gas for cheaper outside the city and selling it, according to the New York Daily News. One man was found by police with more than 400 gallons in container inside a van.

Anytime there is a gasoline shortage, it means people will hoard it and sell it to make some money. One of the biggest times the gas black market existed was during World War II when fuel was rationed.

Sources

Huffington Post

ABC

New York Magazine

Los Angeles Times

New York Daily News

Oregon state archives
 
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