I've been in the madness that is Home Depot when we were smack in the middle of the three day cone of uncertainty and price-gouging laws had already frozen the cost of plywood and chainsaws. Despite the frozen prices, the big box stores with good logistics supply chains are very good at moving specific inventory into an expected hurricane zone when their weather guru agrees with NHC assessment and, even if they can't add a mark up of 20-50% because of an emergency, they will ship all the supplies they can into that area because 1) they can still make a profit and 2) there is goodwill of the type that can be quantified in the accounting ledger that is generated when people know a business can be relied upon in times of disaster. When Florida was getting slammed left and right by storms in 2004, the Orlando Omni got a ton of good press for running something like $60/night hurricane evacuee specials and likely did generate new business because they were seen as a caring brand with good customer service, etc.

People do remember who did and didn't be a good neighbor during a crisis and tell their friends about them. I know I said a lot of nice things about Omni in 2004-05. And if a business is thinking beyond the next quarter numbers, they realize that being a good neighbor then can have a long term impact on successfully building a brand.