Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says his office has received hundreds of complaints of criminal price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
"We have seen bread being sold for $14.99, water being charged for up to $99 a case, fuel being bumped to $4 to $10 a gallon," Paxton told News Radio 1200 WOAI.
One Houston man's video of him calling out a man for selling water for $3 a bottle has gone viral, and has focused attention on the price gouging problem.
"That's why nobody can buy water, it's because of people like you, trying to make money off of a crisis!" Houston's Marcus Griffin tells the water seller in the video.
Fines range from $20,000 per occurance, all the way to $250,000 for gouging senior citizens.
Price gouging is defined as charging prices far in excess of the normal market rate for essentials and staple products in a county which has been declared a disaster, or to people who are fleeing a disaster.