As the millions of people in Texas and neighboring states deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, the rest of us – especially in the southeast – are sharing some of their pain by paying even higher prices for gasoline and going without gas. I have every confidence that the emergency response teams are doing an excellent job helping restore power and order to the areas devastated by the hurricane.
In a small way, there might be some comfort to the survivors of Hurricane Katrina that some of the painful lessons from Katrina were learned and applied here for Hurricane Ike. Of particular notice to me was that the animals of the area have been cared for this time.
But the gasoline situation is horrendous. The Texas refineries supply about a quarter of the country’s gasoline and oil. However, the Texas refineries supply over HALF the gas to the southeastern states, and these states are having to deal with spikes in the price plus shortages.
The gas stations around my house are out of gas. Not just one or two stations. I mean like 40 stations. They don’t know when they will be getting any more deliveries. Period. I drove around in ever widening circles for hour before I could find a gas station that has any gas at all, and all they have is premium grade gas. The cars were lined up in the parking lot and out into the street just to get whatever gas they could get from this station.
I hope with all my heart that the people of Galveston and Houston are safe and on their way back to a normal life after Hurricane Ike. And I hope that the refineries can reopen in the next couple of days and start shipping the gas out to the southeast. Because we are hurting, too.