Americans in multiple states are arriving at their local gas stations expecting to be able to fill up their gas tanks only to discover that the gas stations are out of fuel.
“Gas stations along the Southeast coast are beginning to feel the pinch from the shutdown of the biggest oil pipeline in the US due to a crippling cyberattack believed to be orchestrated by a Russia-based criminal group,” The New York Post reported. “The closure of the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline, which carries more than 100 million gallons of fuel from Texas to New Jersey each day, has stretched into its fifth day.”
On social media, multiple videos went viral of people showing that their gas stations were out of fuel in states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and others. Panic buying might be playing a role in gas stations running out of fuel, although it is hard to tell based on initial reports.
This is Joe Biden’s America pic.twitter.com/zQlNLT4bip
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) May 11, 2021
This is crazy. I stopped for gas just now having no idea what was happening. It’s out. People here told me they’d been to other stations and found the same. pic.twitter.com/7LDVdUXPo4
— Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) May 11, 2021
Gas stations are running out, Plymouth NC lines are around the building. 4 stations are out. #gasshortage pic.twitter.com/TcIwRpCsBG
— Fly on the wall (@Huge2na) May 11, 2021
Gas shortage thread
Florida👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/Geampws58G— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2021
Georgia 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/YbccExcGY5
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2021
North Carolina pic.twitter.com/IgptkPOk0p
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2021
South Carolina pic.twitter.com/YMhmpfDkAe
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2021
Alabama 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/krSWXzp5IS
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2021
Virginia 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/CLmvWWLI26
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2021
Arkansas 👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/EfdK47MWWO
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) May 11, 2021
Literally backed up to the street gas n go hwy 58 Chattanooga tn ..said most gas stations are sold out of gas ⛽ pic.twitter.com/49gf2HNXrU
— Lisa Skinner Escalante (@Lisa_skinnypig) May 10, 2021
The gas shortage comes after Biden was dealt another blow late last week following a disastrous jobs report that was released for April that showed that the economy missed new job expectations by more than 700,000 jobs. Biden has repeatedly been compared to former President Jimmy Carter.
Colonial Pipeline issued the following statement late on Monday evening:
Colonial Pipeline is continuing to work in partnership with third-party cybersecurity experts, law enforcement, and other federal agencies to restore pipeline operations quickly and safely. While this situation remains fluid and continues to evolve, the Colonial operations team is executing a plan that involves an incremental process that will facilitate a return to service in a phased approach.
We can now report that Line 4, which runs from Greensboro, N.C., to Woodbine, Md., is operating under manual control for a limited period of time while existing inventory is available. As previously announced, while our main lines continue to be offline, some smaller lateral lines between terminals and delivery points are now operational as well. We continue to evaluate product inventory in storage tanks at our facilities and others along our system and are working with our shippers to move this product to terminals for local delivery.
Our primary focus remains the safe and efficient restoration of service to our pipeline system, while minimizing disruption to our customers and all those who rely on Colonial Pipeline. We will continue to provide updates as restoration efforts progress.
“The President continues to be regularly briefed on the Colonial Pipeline incident,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed in a statement on Tuesday morning. “The Administration is continually assessing the impact of this ongoing incident on fuel supply for the East Coast. We are monitoring supply shortages in parts of the Southeast and are evaluating every action the Administration can take to mitigate the impact as much as possible.”
She added, “The President has directed agencies across the Federal Government to bring their resources to bear to help alleviate shortages where they may occur.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.