For the first time since the 1970’s, gas stations in North Carolina are out of gas, and shortages have pushed the cost up to $3.00 per gallon – just in time for the Labor Day holiday weekend.
Gov. Mike Easley urged citizens to conserve on gas because supplies are dwindling. He said that two major pipelines that furnish gasoline to North Carolina and eight-to-10 other states are unable to pump gasoline to the region because of damage from Hurricane Katrina.
From Georgia to Michigan, fuel supplies are dwindling and prices are rising:
Gas stations in upstate South Carolina reported they were running out of gas. “The state is telling us the pipeline that services the northeast has been disrupted at the supply point in Louisiana, and that it will take a week and half for it to reach us,” he said. “A lot of gas stations are out and closed in this area.”
In central Maryland, many gas stations were shut down by Wednesday night. “I don’t know when I’ll get gas again,” said one station owner in Laurel, Md…
In Michigan, gas prices were as high as $3.92 for unleaded regular in Garden City, just one of many stations with high prices in the Detroit metro area. Forty percent of Michigan’s gas comes from the Gulf Coast.
In Atlanta, gas prices were rising and shortages were imminent, residents reported.
