Wednesday, August 31, 2005

rumors

Much of this information has not been confirmed, but it will give you an idea of the mood north of Atlanta:
  • Local gas stations are out of gas and others have closed at 5:00 PM.
  • The Wal*Marts are sold out of gas cans.
  • The lowest price is $2.59 a gallon and the highest is $4.75.
  • Gas stations that are open are limiting the quantity to 10 gallons.
  • One station that I stopped at this evening is out of gas and won't see more gas until the weekend at the earliest.
  • Drive-offs (not paying for gas) are increasing.
  • Police are staffing stations.
  • Lines are long.

In my household we are deciding to cut out the non essentials immediately. No more trips to the gym. Grocery store runs will be planned so that we can stock up. One friend of mine had the foresight to stockpile 35 gallons. I wasn't so smart. My husband's business may shut down next week. He works in new home construction and goes to distant jobsites every day. But without gas this will not be possible. So extrapolating from that it might not be too far out to say that the housing boom in Atlanta is on the verge of collapsing.

CNN says our gas pipelines escaped damage but lost power. They are resuming at 35% capacity with the hopes of getting to 60% capacity this weekend.

The silver lining is that we may be able to educate people about Peak Oil. The gas crisis has certainly got their attention.

2 comments:

baloghblog said...

guess you're facing the shortages that we feared would be out on the horizon, now.

time to put thoughts into action, and start up the contingency plans. Sorry to hear about your husband's work though.

Good luck, and keep that tank as full as you can. I think that part of the problem in Atlana Metro is the fear and uncertainty running wild and everyone rushing to get gas. Just like if everyone rushed to get money out of the bank at once...

Speaking of...?

Liz Logan said...

Thanks, Steve,

Yes I think you are right about the panic situation. Its amazing how fear of shortages create the reality.

Despite all of my thinking about it, I am not ready! This is a good reality check for us.