Hurricanes are usually bad news to homeowners and businesses in their paths.  We have seen the overwhelming results – especially since hurricane Andrew did so much damage in the early 1990’s.  Since then, it seems that there have been more hurricanes of greater magnitude leaving greater destruction in their wake. 

The folks that live in the southeastern United States have been hit with multiple hurricanes one after the other and have had a difficult time just beginning to try to recover.  Now, on top of the grueling recovery, there is a severe fuel shortage that has hit the area as well. 

Because oil production had to be temporarily halted due to the storms, many areas in the southeast are playing catch up.  In Sandy Springs, GA, a mail carrier went twelve miles out of his way to get to a gas station that had gasoline to sell.  When he got to the station, he had to wait in line for 40 minutes to be able to get to the pump and purchase gas for his mail truck.  As they say, neither sleet, nor snow nor hail nor rain…not gas shortages.  The mail will get through. 

Many drivers are reporting having to go to several gas stations that are out of gas before they find one that has gas, and then they must wait in long lines to be able to purchase the gas they need.  The refineries had to shut down in advance of the hurricanes and it takes a while for them to get pumps up and flowing and online again.  Some of the refineries are still not up and running yet.

In addition to this delay, the U.S. Department of Energy states that even before the hurricanes, gas inventories were at their lowest levels since 1967.  On the other hand, there are some supplies of fuel getting through to the area, but the governor of Georgia feels that part of the shortage is self-induced because people are panicking and rushing out to purchase all the gas they can, which artificially increases the demand on an already thin supply.

In the weeks to come, everyone from the governors to lawmakers to the Department of Energy predict that fuel supplies will get back to normal.  They – as well as consumers – are looking much more carefully at ways to implement alternatives sooner rather than later, now that they know just what the combination of the aftermath of hurricanes and severe weather plus fuel shortages actually feels like.