The rainy weather in Atlanta is adding to the misery and panic as motorists search for gas across the metro.
According to a report from CNBC, 60% of metro Atlanta gas stations have no fuel. Those that do have limited supply or diesel only. The gasoline shortage began to grip metro Atlanta on May 11 as people hoarded fuel in the wake of a cyberattack that shut down a major pipeline system.
GasBuddy has launched a tracker at tracker.gasbuddy.com to show which stations still have fuel. The fluctuating map shows most gas stations in the Intown coverage area have “limited fuel options,” but as stations receive gas deliveries, cars are lining up.
Local, state, and U.S. officials have implored motorists not to panic buy or hoard gasoline as the entire East Coast began to feel the effects of the pipeline shutdown. However, many people were not heeding that advice as fuel prices topped $3 a gallon at many stations for the first time in years.
The May 7 attack by hackers who sought a ransom for hijacked data affected the Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline company, whose network runs between Texas and New York, including pipelines running across the metro Atlanta area. Federal officials and Colonial say they hope to get fuel flowing fully again later this week.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order May 11 to temporarily suspend the gas tax in Georgia and announced that the state is increasing the weight limits for trucks transporting fuel, providing more supply for stations as they receive deliveries. The order also prohibits price gouging at the pumps.
John Ruch contributed to this report.
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