Are gas shortages in the Southeast a fluke or a new trend?

[taterguy]

I went to fill up my car Friday.

The station had no gas.

The media says this is just a temporary situation and will be resolved shortly.

What happens if the media is wrong and this becomes an everyday occurrence?

Call me crazy but I care a lot more about this than the fate of banks that I don't do business with in the first place.

[snot]

1. I think it's called a tactic. nt

[Uben]

2. It's temporary

In two weeks it'll be back to normal.

[taterguy]

46. How long can the average person survive without gas?

Two weeks seems like a long time, especially since the problem started three weeks ago

[hobbit709]

3. No shortage of gas around here

Sounds like an excuse to keep prices up.

[soulcore]

4. I too think it's a tactic.

Big media centers have shortages, no so much for everyone else.

My buddies in Atlanta have a new game they call "Gas Hunting", while here in Dallas there's plenty to go around.

[taterguy]

10. Is Boone NC a "big media center"?

My paper today reports that stations up there are out of gas.

[tpsbmam]

20. It took FOREVER to hit the national media to pay attention.....

In Asheville (hardly a media mecca), we'd been running out of gas trying to get to work and sitting in gas lines for about 5 days before the national media ever picked up on it. We were screaming from the rooftops trying to get government officials to get off their asses to do something and the media to pay attention.

[K Gardner]

19. We are out of gas from E TN to North Carolina. Not a lot of big media centers here.

[Thothmes]

26. Understand, if you drive an hour in any direction from Atlanta

gas is not problem.

[tama]

5. Gentle warning

of much worse to come. These shortages will ease out in due time, but in the coming years there will be more periods of shortages and worse.

[taterguy]

12. If it's a warning maybe I should set up my life so I don't need much gas

Or would that just be crazy?

[tama]

15. That sounds sane

We don't know how much time there is left to prepare, but any case starting to think about how to satisfy basic material needs (food, clothes and shelter) without the whole oil dependent infrastructure is most advisable. If there is no oil to drive to the nearest shop and even worse, no oil to deliver stuff to the shop, and worst, no oil to produce food etc. in the first place, what then?

[taterguy]

21. I'd rather cling to the belief that shortages are a myth

Because complaining is a lot easier than actually doing something.

[tama]

24. Cool

BTW, any pictures to share from your permaculture garden harvest? :)

[taterguy]

25. I took this pic in someone else's garden

I don't know if it's permaculture or not

[tama]

27. Thanks

very pretty! :)

[tpsbmam]

28. Not crazy at all......we all need to do what we can to decrease our reliance on

gas and, to the degree that we can, be prepared to be pretty self-reliant for awhile. I've been stocking up for about 6 months now and have a full freezer, pantry (formerly a closet), etc. No one really knows how bad this is going to get so to the degree that we can set ourselves up for anything, we should. Unfortunately, we can't all do that. I've been able to set aside funds to do this and cut back to the bone on anything else, but I have too many friends who simply can't do that -- there isn't a penny of extra money right now and hasn't been for awhile. I'd like to think that those who've been able stock up and prepare will be willing to share with those selected friends/family who aren't so lucky. I envision me meeting a great moral dilemma in the coming months. I have a good friend who is in the can't afford to stock up place and has already gone on food stamps (but has to be able to get to the store to use those food stamps....we're in a rural area.....and the store has to have food on the shelves). I've stocked up for this house, which is all I could afford -- my moral dilemma may come when I need to help feed her family of FIVE and cut the stash in half for this house. Stay tuned!

[Subdivisions]

47. Not crazy. I did just that and now I use less gas each month than I

used to use in a day. Not everyone can go that far, but if you're willing to be proactive, you can significantly reduce your gas usage.

[taterguy]

48. Would you please share with the rest of us?

The drugs that you're on right now

[ProdigalJunkMail]

6. there are only a couple of areas having shortages

and that means there is no REAL shortage. the shortage right now is caused by a number of factors not the least of which is the panic buying by everyone who sees a gas station with fuel and tops off their tank that was already 3/4 full. the problem has already started to subside somewhat in ATL area as during the day yesterday I saw more stations with petrol than the days before and this morning i passed three station with gas and either NO or reasonable lines...

it will get better...

sP

[RebelOne]

16. I live northwest of Atlanta in Woodstock

and finally the stations are starting to get gas. This morning I filled up at a station near my house on Hwy. 5. No lines at all. The clerk told me that he just received a shipment this morning at 1:30. I passed a Kroger and it had gas with only short lines. And also, on Cobb Parkway, the QT had gas with short lines. But, of course, this was at 5:30 a.m. Just wait until everyone is going home. That is when you will see the long lines.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

17. i am in Cumming

and my hope is that as more people see the stations with fuel that they will stop this panicked buying that we are seeing which is only extending the 'shortages'. QT has mentioned today that they will have gas at ALL their stations by the end of tomorrow...

sP

[Phentex]

35. Since we're just sheep...

I wondered what would happen if the news stations would report that most stations had gas.

Instead, they keep showing the long lines, the people who've run out of gas, etc.

I know the lines are real, but I think the situation is worse because of the panic.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

37. i would agree with you 100%

the lines ARE real, but the media has a need to keep us scared so we pay attention to them, and thus the madness ensues!

I have passed no less that 8 stations with gas and 6 without...

sP

[RebelOne]

40. Those were my thoughts this morning when I watched TV

news showing the long lines. It is the media causing the panic buying.

[itsrobert]

7. Gas is lower than the national average here in San Diego

Less than $3.50 a gallon at Costco.

The economy is upside down when San Diego has lower gas prices than most the rest of the country.

[aquart]

8. I dunno. Are they swing states?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

9. georgia...a swing state ???

thanks for the morning laugh...

sP

[tekisui]

14. NC is.

[liberal N proud]

11. Could be a new test to see if that would control the people

Just a little :tinfoilhat: time here.

I have always suspected that if they could the bu$h regime would enforce marital law. They have run many terror drills in cities across the country. Couple that with controlling the supplies of things like food and energy, you could possibly be able to enforce a martial law on all of or part of the nation.

[madrchsod]

13. ike went through the refineries in texas

limiting production of gasoline. since most of the south gets their gasoline supply from texas...

[taterguy]

18. So we'll be fine?

Unless there's another disaster in Texas

[NNN0LHI]

22. Neither fluke or a new trend, It was a hurricane

[taterguy]

23. No hurricane has ever caused stations 300 miles inland to run out of gas

At least in my lifetime.

And I was trying to fill up three weeks after Ike hit.

[Thothmes]

29. No, but damaged pipe lines out of the

Houston area limit the amount of fuel that can be distributed to an area. We have no shortage where we live, because we have a refinery about 15 miles up river from us. Think all of Metro Atlanta fuel comes in on pipe lines from the Gulf states.

[Robbien]

30. 49 refineries were damaged and closed. Pipelines to the east were shutdown

due to no supplies. All points between the Gulf and the east coast have been effected.

Hurricane Ike was very destructive across the entire mid-western section of the country. In addition to your gas problem, there are millions of Americans stilling waiting for their electricity to be turned back on, from Texas and various states up country up to Illinois/Indiana. Of course the media has been silent on the subject.

[Lithos]

31. I believe the only shortage was Atlanta

Atlanta uses specially formulated gas, much like California, for smog and the like. Ike disrupted this specialized supply. Happened during Katrina as well.

[taterguy]

36. I guess Boone NC is a suburb of Atlanta

I knew Atlanta was growing but I didn't realize it had grown that much

[kick-ass-bob]

39. No. NC is getting hit fairly hard.

The western part of the state (mountains and Charlotte) and the eastern part (no population centers) were first.

Now Raleigh is seeing the problem too. I have 4 gallons in my car and scattered places to get gas.

TG I take the bus to work.

[Vinca]

32. I'm puzzled that there is a shortage of gas down south,

yet the price at my local gas station in New Hampshire is going down. 4 cents in one day even.

[tannybogus]

33. I'm in Florence, SC.

No problem here and prices are not rising. Of course, we have that master statesman,

Senator Lindsey Grahamster, as our savior.:sarcasm:

[AngryAmish]

34. Media induced panic

People keep topping off their tanks thinking the gas will not be there. The supply system is JIT. It is not made for people to constantly top off their cars, boats, RVs, SUVs and lawnmowers.

[taterguy]

38. JIT? I don't know that that means

[kenny blankenship]

43. Just In Time

More efficient inventorying for producers more fucked up chaos for consumers.

[MedleyMisty]

41. I'm in Charlotte

I've gotten gas when I needed to without much problem. Tank is at a quarter, oh look, there's a station with a five to fifteen minute line.

And I've also learned that a lot of people are incredibly stupid and blind. "Derr hey, this is Murka - gas is supposed to flow endlessly and be free, and if it's not you disrespectin' me. Drill now because my five minutes waiting in line is so much more precious than the future of the planet!"

[taterguy]

44. There were no lines at the station where I stopped

Because there was no fucking gas

[kenny blankenship]

42. Prepare for the New Normal. Apparently refiners aren't required to keep adequate inventory

then when there is a transient regional disruption to supply - you get an instant return the 73-74 oil shortage.

Investigate alternatives to gas because nobody seems to be concerned about taking steps to prevent this shit from happening again.

[taterguy]

45. I guess I could ride a bike to work

But then people might think I'm so sort of European

Or someone that's gotten one too many DUIs.