by Leanan » Thu 27 Oct 2005, 08:47:21
I have to admit...this sort of thing is making me more and more pessimistic all the time. It's like "Lord of the Flies": the veneer of civilization is very thin.
I can understand people refusing to evacuate. Not everyone can afford it, and after what happened in New Orleans, who wants to go to a shelter?
But surely they could have stocked up on some basic supplies. Fill up some empty soda bottles with water from the tap; no need to buy bottled water. Get some canned goods and a manual can opener. Stock up on gas before there's a mad rush. This is Florida; it's not like hurricanes are unexpected events there.
BTW, here's the transcript from CNN:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
And this gas station has just opened moments ago. The cabs that you see are ready to gas up. The fellow in the yellow cab got here at 4:00 in the morning. He wanted to be sure that he was the first on line, because yesterday he told me he waited for three hours for gasoline, got to the station, and they had run out.
So, huge frustrations for him yesterday, and he's able to start gassing up right now.
This is a mad scramble for gasoline inside southern Florida. It's on the front page this morning of the Miami Herald, "Running on empty: Desperate drivers scramble for gas."
Miami-Dade County essentially has turned into a country of road warriors, people searching wherever they can for gasoline.
Keep in mind, there are not many gas stations open around here simply because there isn't a lot of power. Many stations still don't have the power to actually pump that fuel. As a result, you have incredible lines.
This line to the gas station here loops all around the block and extends all the way up there. At this hour we have more than 200 vehicles now in line, waiting for gasoline. And we understand there are only 1,200 gallons of gasoline at this Citgo station.
Also note, there are police officers here. They have been here since 4:30 in the morning. And the situation is so serious that all 14 officers here, they comprise the entire force of Sunny Isles, Florida, at 4:30 in the morning. That early in the morning the entire force came down here to make sure that the line would be under control, that people would not basically lose their tempers and that fights wouldn't break out.
So, a very serious situation here...
COSTELLO: Allan, I have a question. The electricity is still mostly out. So people probably can't go to their jobs quite yet. I'm just wondering, is it panic that people are going to get the gas? Like, where are they going?
CHERNOFF: Well, it really depends. Obviously, if you're a cab driver -- and the first four cars on line here are all cabs -- these guys need gasoline obviously to do their work...
COSTELLO: Well, I get that.
CHERNOFF: ... to do their business.
COSTELLO: But what about homeowners?
CHERNOFF: Right. There are some people who certainly are panicking -- no question about that -- because they see so many gas stations shut down.
Yesterday when we had lines here as well, I spoke to a few folks. They said, you don't need to go to work. You don't need to bring your kids to school, because the schools are closed. And one fellow said, yes, but I'm down to half-a-tank. I've got to fill up. I have to get gas.
So, yes, there is certainly a certain degree of panic here with regard to the gas situation.