More than 500 people have reported price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Florence

More than 500 complaints of price-gouging have been filed to the North Carolina attorney general's office in the wake of Hurricane Florence, The Associated Press reports.

The complaints include reports of markups on gas and water, as well as accusations of hotels of overcharging evacuees. Gas stations are already being investigated for violating the law, per AP.

The Tar Heel State's price-gouging law went into effect Sept. 7th, after Gov. Roy Cooper (D) declared a state of emergency as Florence, now a tropical depression, approached. Attorney General Josh Stein warned against the illegality of price-gouging and encouraged people to come forward if they saw businesses capitalizing on the crisis.

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Violators of the statute could be fined up to $5,000 for each instance of price-gouging, The Charlotte Observer reports.