Photo by Jenny Kirk Tim VanBruggen pumps gas on Monday at the Hy-Vee convenient store in Marshall. Customers are noticing an increase at the pumps throughout Marshall, courtesy of Hurricane Harvey.

MARSHALL — As southeastern Texas deals with the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Harvey, Minnesota residents are beginning to see the ripple effects take place at the gas pump.

The majority of gas prices in Marshall jumped up by 5 cents on Monday.

“With all the water down there caused by Hurricane Harvey, the refineries are shut down,” Hy-Vee convenience store manager Bob Richards said. “It’s going to affect gas prices. So if you see an increase in gas prices, that’s probably why.”

Returning from vacation, Tim and Cheri VanBruggen said they noticed the gas prices had spiked recently in Minnesota.

“We went up to Minneapolis for the Vikings game,” Tim VanBruggen said. “We enjoyed the win, but there’s a little pain at the pump.”

As VanBruggen filled up his vehicle on Monday at the Hy-Vee convenience store, the Luverne resident kept a positive attitude, acknowledging that it could be a lot worse.

“I think most of the pain is yet to come,” he said. “But I still feel worse for the people of Texas than I do for us. That’s a very hard row to hoe down there.”

Hy-Vee’s prices increased by a nickel, up to $2.32 on Monday.

“Everybody’s margin is considerably low right now because of gas going up,” Richards said. “It started jumping last week in anticipation. Our retain hadn’t jumped at all until (Monday). This nickel increase was the first we’ve had in several weeks. But our cost jumped up around 10 cents a gallon last week. So you gotta go with what the cost is.”

Hurricane Harvey pummeled the southwest coast of Texas on Friday, coming ashore as a Category 4 storm — the strongest to hit the United States in more than a decade. As the storm continued to agitate along the Gulf Coast this past weekend, it left life-threatening flooding in some parts, including the fourth-largest U.S. city of Houston.

“Almost everybody that came in while I was working on Saturday made mention of the hurricane and fuel prices going up,” Richards said. “They knew it was coming. I anticipate it will go higher.”

Richards said the increase would depend on how many of the Texas refineries were damaged.

“A lot of our gas comes from that area — those refineries,” he said. “It’s pushed up through the pipelines. So we could probably see a bigger jump yet.”

The Texas Gulf Coast refineries account for nearly one-third of the nation’s capacity to transform oil into gas, diesel and other products. According to the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, about 22 percent — or 379,000 barrels — of oil produced in the Gulf was shut down as of Sunday.

Cattoors manager Jon Grams said both unleaded and diesel prices rose by 5 cents on Monday as well.

“I believe what I saw was that 20 percent of U.S. production is going to be halted because of the hurricane,” Grams said.

Grams, who has served as manager for seven years, said there’s not much convenience stores can do other than pass the increase down to the customer.

“By (Tuesday), all the prices in Marshall will be the same,” he said. “Typically, Hy-Vee is the trendsetter and everyone else follows. Within 24 hours, everyone is the same price. It’s been that way since I’ve been here.”

Grams was also quick to put the cost hike in perspective.

“Realistically, this is the first time we’ve changed (prices) in three weeks,” Grams said. “It’s been the same. And it’s barely over $2. A few years ago, we were at $4.29, so $2.32 is better than that. I would say that you’re going to see $2.50 within a month if things don’t get better in that region. I guess we can be thankful we live where we do.”

Main Street Casey’s continued to post its $2.27 price per gallon for unleaded gasoline on Monday. But the holdout would be short-lived.

“It’s been $2.27 for quite awhile,” Casey’s manager Donna Pettis said. “The prices will get bumped up (today). We usually bump it up 5-6 cents.”