Gas shortages intensify in Southeast, with 71 percent of Charlotte stations now dry

[mahatmakanejeeves]

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Gas shortages intensify in Southeast, with 71 percent of Charlotte stations now dry

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Fuel prices creep up, and states of emergency are now in place in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia in the aftermath of the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack

By Taylor Telford, Hannah Denham and Will Englund

May 12, 2021 at 11:52 a.m. EDT

Well over half the gas stations in Charlotte and Atlanta have run dry as panic-buying exacerbated fuel shortages throughout the Southeast, underscoring the real-world implications of a cyberattack that forced Colonial Pipeline off line last week.

The gas runs have helped empty 71 percent of the gas stations in Charlotte, according to Patrick De Haan, an oil analyst at GasBuddy, and 60 percent in Atlanta. At the state level, nearly 25 percent of the stations were without fuel in North Carolina. 15 percent in Virginia and Georgia, and 13 percent in South Carolina, De Haan said on Twitter.

As of Wednesday, governors in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Florida had declared states of emergency and taken steps to relax fuel transport rules to ease pain at the pump. But the run on gas stations is colliding with a shortage of truck drivers, compounding the logistical challenges as states try to fill in for the Colonial Pipeline, which supplies 45 percent of the East Coast’s fuel.

The Colonial Pipeline system shut down Friday after hackers thought to be based in the former Soviet Union infiltrated servers and encrypted its data, demanding a fee to restore access.

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By Taylor Telford
Taylor Telford is a reporter covering national and breaking news. Twitter https://twitter.com/taylormtelford

By Hannah Denham
Hannah Denham is a national business reporter on The Washington Post's breaking news team. Twitter https://twitter.com/hannah_denham1

By Will Englund
Will Englund, a former Moscow correspondent, covers energy. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize, he is the author of “March 1917: On the Brink of War and Revolution.” Twitter https://twitter.com/willenglund

[PortTack]

1. The pipeline is due to reopen Friday..as in this Friday

[keithsw]

2. My little town

In Western Carolina has 3 gas stations. All 3 were out of gas yesterday. We are about 2 and a half hours from Charlotte.

[Tomconroy]

3. No problems in the northeast.

Kind of odd. Hope it gets fixed soon.

[MyMission]

4. I'm in Western NC

And most gas stations...the ones with gas...had long lines yesterday. Others were dark and empty.
I found a gas line last night and waited 40 minutes to get $20. Was on 1/4 tank, now almost full.

My area has many tourists and visitors who are finding it difficult to get gas. Hopefully the situation will improve this weekend.