White House: Price gouging of Harvey victims ‘will not be tolerated’

The White House warned Thursday that price gouging “would not be tolerated” in Texas as tens of thousands of displaced individuals seek food and supplies in the wake of intense floods that have devastated the Gulf region.

“Anybody that’s going to go out and try to take advantage of a disaster victim ought to expect the law enforcement to come down [on] them with a hammer,” White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said at a briefing.

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“That’s not acceptable on a regular day. It’s certainly not acceptable when people are suffering. We’ll use the latitude under the law and provide a fair market value, rental rate that’s a little bit higher than a 100 percent to accommodate the natural demand and supply.”

The White House statement comes amid reports that the prices of some everyday goods have been raised significantly as those affected by flooding from Hurricane Harvey seek food and water.