Price gouging is the lowest form of capitalism. Taking advantage of victims is immoral.When the price of a scarce commodity is allowed to rise to an appropriate level, the scarcity of that commodity eases as suppliers rush to to find ways to fill the demand.
So if your goal is to institute some concept of fairness, price controls are the way to go. Of course they will also increase the length and depth of the scarcity.
If, however, your goal is to eliminate the scarcity, then allowing "gouging" is the way to go.
So you can feel righteous amidst scarcity, or you can allow human ingenuity to solve the problem.
Take your pick:
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Thomas Sowell discusses how to efficiently handle commodity shortages in times of crisis, specifically dealing with "gouging":
(click)
Simple economics has nothing to do with a gas station owner gouging customers, nor will it do anything to improve the flow of fuel to hard hit areas. Fuel suppliers are moving fuel to the area as best they can regardless of price.
The shortages of gas are a result of power outages closing many stations, & transportation problems getting the fuel to blocked/flooded areas. The high demand for gas is a result of commuters w/o mass transportation forced to drive to work, storm victims searching for supplies, & generator use.
Gouging is greed by the station owner, it rarely involves distributors, & will not increase supply one bit.
Having said that, I do not fault gas station owners for raising prices slightly, say 25 cents/gal., to cover extraordinary costs of keeping the station open, such as generators to run the pumps & extra security. That, to me, is not gouging.