Struggling in North Carolina...
@beccasthoughts (303)
United States
September 24, 2008 12:30pm CST
After the recent hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast, it is getting difficult to fill the gas tanks here in the mountains of North Carolina. Gas stations get gas and immediately there are lines of vehicles waiting to get to the pumps. Within a hour's time, the pumps are dry.
It is getting difficult for everyone to go to work because we don't know if we will have enough gas to get there or if the gas stations will have gas. Even the school buses are feeling the pain. One news report said that the schools had enough gas in reserve to last them a week. Then what? Will they have to temporary close the schools until they can obtain gas for the buses?
Is anyone else having the same problems that we in western North Carolina are facing?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@kareng (59050)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Things should get better as the refineries open back up at full capacity. Cold shut downs require at least two weeks to get the refineries back up. One of the things that happened at one of the local gas stations here is they did away with the middle and premium grade of gasoline and only carry 87 octane now, which is regular unleaded fuel.
@beccasthoughts (303)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Wow. I didn't know that it took 2 weeks for refineries to start back up. From the news report, other areas of the state are not experiencing the gas shortage crunch and several state lawmakers are looking into the why of that.
1 person likes this
@kareng (59050)
• United States
24 Sep 08
I live in Baton Rouge, LA and we have one of the Exxon refineries here. We are back to normal after Gustav and Ike but it takes a couple of weeks. Those long lines are horrible. People were waiting for 4 hours and more here for gasoline right after the hurricane. It does seem like there is another local problem in your area if the rest of the state is not experiencing the same thing. Now if we could just get the gasoline prices back down under $2.00 a gallon, I would be happy :) But that seems to be part of history now and wishful thinking!
@Shellyann36 (11384)
• United States
24 Sep 08
I live in central North Carolina and most stations are limiting the pumps to ten gallons of gas. A few smaller places have run out of gas but no serious lines or empty stations here. I hope things get better for you. I remember what it was like having to drive to clients homes all of the time. I finally got out of that business last year and it has made a tremendous impact on the health of my wallet! I wish you luck beccasthoughts!
@beccasthoughts (303)
• United States
26 Sep 08
I hope it gets better soon too. I am looking to replace my income and then some from home so that I may be able to leave the job. I love talking to my clients but the gas prices are killing me. God bless and good luck with your endeavors, Shellyann36.
:D
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
24 Sep 08
I wonder why certain areas are being hit by this and other aren't. We are sort of lucky living in Louisiana there are refineries all around us. I can't say that I have seen any rush on gas around here.
@beccasthoughts (303)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Yeah, that is the question on the minds of many western North Carolina residents. Here in the mountains gas can be here and gone in a hour's time. Meanwhile, areas in the plateau and coastal regions are having no problem with gas. I hope the lawmakers of the state can get to the bottom of it.
@Reesers (1387)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Yes, we're having that problem in the Dallas area. I haven't experienced any problems but just last night on the news they were talking about gas shortages. Some people are having to go to several stations before they find one with gas. There is a gas station nearby that I go to and it seems like they're always low, so I wouldn't be surprised if they run out. For now, I'm just trying to stick to the house and not go out much to save gas. I can't imagine those who have to commute each day to work, sit in traffic, and wonder if they'll have enough gas to make it to work or home.
@beccasthoughts (303)
• United States
24 Sep 08
Yeah, it is difficult. For my job, I have to drive around the area through 3 counties to visit clients. With the shortage of gas, I try to keep the visit days down and if possible do all visits in one day. I'm just worried about what will happen with buses if this isn't taken care of soon.
@Holv03 (534)
• United States
24 Sep 08
I live in Connecticut and thank god we haven't had any of those problems here. We always have gas and I havent seen or heard in the news or anywhere about problems here but I did hear about problems in the southern states near Texas. Also I think I heard about a couple of northern states which probly are Indiana and Illinois. It will end up getting better by the end of the week since they opened up full time already so expect it to get a lot better.
@beccasthoughts (303)
• United States
24 Sep 08
I'll be happy to be able to go to the gas station and not have to wait 30 minutes to get to the pump only to find out that they ran out of gas. It effects my job a lot.
