CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Increases in gas prices have been pretty dramatic in the days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, and Charlotte area drivers have noticed the difference.
Channel 9 reporter DaShawn Brown spoke with a clerk who said she raised the price of gas twice on Wednesday, to $2.39 and then to $2.59 per gallon.
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“It's a 17 cent differential from here to here, but those 17 cents add up,” said customer Thomas Vinson.
Experts said the price hike traces back to the Texas-Louisiana border where you will find the largest oil refinery in the nation, one that's now shut down after massive flooding from Hurricane Harvey.
"There's a large variance in what's being demanded and what's being produced, and that's why gas prices have jumped,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.
One Charlotte man said he's seen a price hike like this before.
“I was in New Orleans when Katrina hit,” Kenneth Henderlick said. “Some gas stations charged $5 a gallon and they would only let you get up to 10 to 15 gallons.
An expert said the national average is now $2.44 per gallon, the highest it's been in almost two years.