Gas Hard To Find In Metro Atlanta

ATLANTA — It has been a little over a week since Hurricane Ike forced the closure of oil refineries along the Gulf of Mexico and gasoline production has not yet fully rebounded, but officials say it is getting there.

“The gasoline supply situation is improving, but it’s like trying to turn a huge ship. It just takes time,” said Randy Bly, Director of Community Relations for AAA Auto Club South.

Despite the news, some residents have said they are considering taking Monday because they just could not find a gas station with any fuel. Other motorists waited in long lines that stretched to the street at the few stations they found to still have gas.

Officials said they wanted to stress to the communities that no one should be hording gasoline. Cars should only be refilled when they are close to empty and drivers should not top off tanks when they are half full or more. They stressed that more gasoline is on the way.

The Colonial Pipeline, the nation’s largest, is the major source of gasoline in Georgia. The Alpharetta-based company said they usually carry an average of 100 million gallons of gasoline and other refined petroleum everyday, but they are not at that capacity yet due to a lack of supply from the refineries.

11Alive.com