I haven’t been involved in cleaning up the aftermath of mass fires or earthquakes such as Californians have experienced in the past and are experiencing currently. I have been heavily involved in hurricane recovery in NC and to a lesser degree in a few other southeastern US states for about 35 years before my retirement last year. Possibly there are some commonalities.
Prices increase after disasters of this magnitude. I would expect building material prices to increase, at least for a while, in an area much wider than just Southern California. However, that’s different from price gouging.
In my experience, extreme difficulties, desperation, extraordinary need, limited supplies which are often controlled by a handful of people at least for a short time: I don’t believe these type circumstances bring out the best or worst in people. I believe they bring out the truth, which was always there but glossed over by the relative politeness of an organized society.
I have seen some who have food, building materials, lodging, etc. beat their neighbors ruthlessly with the law of supply and demand, jacking up prices and/or hoarding without mercy. I’ve seen many more who were in that temporary position of great importance and power reduce prices temporarily, keep prices the same, and sometimes give away what they can. Those people cared about others or cared only about themselves before the disaster. The circumstance just shone a light on their good or bad character.
I recall going to a mostly rural area of eastern NC many years ago and dealing with two people a few miles apart, both of whom had multiple trees fall on their houses. One was an elderly lady who was approached by a local tree service a few days after the hurricane passed. They removed 4 small pine trees from her house, tarped the roof to cover the few holes punched by limbs and surprised her with a $48,000 bill she couldn’t pay. The other was an elderly gentleman who was stuck in his very small old house with no power and no phone because 7 large trees had all but crushed the home around him. His neighbor a mile up the road, who ran an excavation/grading business and farmed, walked the mile to check on him because there were too many trees in the road to drive. They spoke, but couldn’t get the old man out without removing the trees. One large excavator with thumb later, the road was cleared, the trees that were on the house were neatly stacked beside its remains, and the elderly man was living with his neighbor until his house could be rebuilt; no money changed hands. I don’t believe the character of the tree guy or the farmer/grader were made any better or worse by the hurricane, but they were very clearly revealed for all to see.
The NC Attorney General’s office has done a very good job of enforcing price gouging laws here since the late 90’s. They charged the $48,000 bill guy and of course the bill was reduced to $2,500 as part of their negotiations. Price gouging laws are state laws so CA may be very different, I don’t know.
However, people don’t tend to forget how they were treated when they were in need. I’ve seen many price gouging businesses, even those that had been in business many years with much good will in the community, out of business within a year or two after conditions returned to normal. There’s a lot of good will to be gained or lost by businesses following a disaster.
