Just days after a major pipeline leak near Birmingham, Alabama, gas stations across the southeast are running out of gas including stations in North Georgia.
In a release Sunday evening, AAA South says Georgia is one of six states that has declared a state of emergency due to a shortage of fuel. According to the release, the Colonial Pipeline, which starting leaking over one week ago, supplies nearly 40 percent of the gasoline that flows to the region.
The shortages are also causing prices to rise at the pumps that still have fuel. Prices in Georgia are already up ten cents from normal, with the state average now at $2.26 per gallon. AAA South Spokesman Garrett Townsend said Georgia is bearing the brunt of the shortages.
"Unfortunately, Georgia's one of the states that's suffering the biggest impact of the shutdown," Townsend said.
While there is no timetable for when the leak will be fully repaired, the U.S. Department of Transportation has ordered Colonial Pipeline to build a temporary bypass line to restore fuel service to the region. That bypass line is currently under construction.
"The hope is that, although there was a tightening of supply, those stations will start to get some gasoline so that motorists can get in there and fill up," Townsend said.
The impact is being felt in North Georgia, with several gas stations across the area running out of fuel. In Hiawassee, the Georgia News Network spoke to a restaurant owner who said he only heard of one station that briefly had fuel Sunday morning.
"Someone said they saw a fuel truck filling up in town this morning, but when I came back by they were already back out of gas," Kelly Robider said.
He added that there was one station in nearby North Carolina that had fuel, but he said the lines were long and prices were over three dollars per gallon.
Townsend stressed that, although people may see stations out of fuel, drivers shouldn't overreact to the situation.
"One of the things that we encourage people to do is to follow the normal driving habits and not draw abnormally large amounts of gas from the pumps," Townsend said.
Check back in to AccessWDUN for updates on the fuel shortages.
