I have mentioned in comments to various threads over the past week the fact that whole sections of the Southeast have been suffering "rolling gas shortages" since the hurricane, some of which are NOT getting better as time goes on. For several reasons. In one diary today I was asked by someone incredulous about the situation how come nobody's heard about it. Despite the fact that there have been several diaries about the situation in Tennessee and Georgia (primarily shortages and lines in Nashville and Atlanta), and in Charlotte.
So I offered a handful of articles in today's press about the situation. Fortunately, a couple of these do offer some reasons for why we are still suffering shortages two weeks later. Here's the run-down...
Classes at NC college cancelled due to gas shortage
Drivers throughout much of the Southeast have been scrambling to find gas since Hurricane Ike shut down or reduced work at more than a dozen refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast. Some stations don't have gas to sell, while others report long lines.
Gas shortages reportedly critical in western n.c.
Gas company and government officials are blaming the shortage on refinery problems in the wake of Hurricane Ike, which struck the Houston area more than a week ago. But it is unclear why only the Charlotte and Asheville areas -- along with some other metropolitan regions, such as Atlanta and Nashville -- have been more seriously impacted than others.
Hmmm... obviously, somebody's deciding who gets gas and who doesn't, those decisions having nothing much to do with overall supply.
Gas shortage continues frustrating drivers
Another driver told us: "I'm from Africa. If you don't have gas, we ride a donkey or camel. I don't know what America will do. You don't have a camel here."
No, but we DO have donkeys and some horses. My problem is getting hold of a cart and proper harnesses...
Gov. Easley Says Fuel Shortage Only 'Temporary'
Yeah. We've been told every day for two weeks "There will be gas tomorrow." I'm beginning to suspect Easley is J. Wellington Wimpy in disguise.
Now, I have suspected all week that rather than still being tied to Ike (tankers are moving just fine, thanks. They're just not delivering to certain regions they're driving through), the continuation of shortages has to do with the bailout of Wall Street. By sticking the region most economically "at-risk" in the best of times with a little reminder of what 'they' could do to us all if we don't pay their trillion-dollar ransom demand.
But as I said, there are still some donkeys and horses around here. A shortage of carts and buggies could be remedied fairly quickly by all those immensely talented woodworkers and furniture makers currently out of work. Things would slow down, but that's not necessarily a bad thing if the economy's going to be just as slow.
The question of 'why' the MSM isn't covering the situation outside the affected regions is anybody's guess. Mine is that they know it's a scam and don't want to give it any more power than it has for we who can't get gas. A 'temporary' bother or a long-term deprival, we'll survive. McBush's lousy campaign in bed with the scammers, however, won't.