There were lines at several stations along Hwy 153 in Hixson yesterday when I was over that way and later I noticed them in Dunlap, too. I didn't think much about it until my wife came home last night and said they were lined out into the street at the Wal-Mart on 153. Then, I saw an article this morning about the same thing going on in Knoxville. I guess I didn't get the memo.....
I’m in Knoxville. The owner of a local chain of gas stores (Weigel’s) said that supplies were low because of Gustav, and that they were expecting a shipment Saturday. That got put off to Tuesday because of Ike. They were still expecting to be o.k., but word got out that they were low, and there was a run on gas. I heard rumblings last night and topped off, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
I’m going home to MI for the weekend, and called my wife to ask how things are up I-75, and this shortage seems confined to the SE. She said the President of Marathon was on WJR and said there may be shortages next week nationwide because of the two hurricanes, and we only run an 8-day surplus instead of the 30-day surplus that the industry wants. She thought a lot of what he said sounded like fluff to support the “drill here, drill now” movement. [not that there’s anything wrong with that...]