Gasoline supply in Lake Charles following Colonial Pipeline shutdown

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Gasoline is being guzzled across some states following the security breach leading to the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.

Hoarding gas is leading to shortages in some areas, but local suppliers in the Lake Area say there is more than enough in supply.

Following the cyber attack, residents have been flocking to gas stations to stock up.

“It’s been pretty busy for the last couple of days,” said local gas supplier, Harleen Kaur. “We are getting a lot more customers than we usually do.”

Some residents aren’t worried about the situation.

“I don’t really see the need to buy all that gasoline,” said resident David Chehotsky. “I find it to be completely wasteful.”

The shutdown of the pipeline has others gassed up, buying jugs at a time.

“A little anxious and worried,” said David Bard, describing his feelings.

“Like big buckets,” said resident Breana Samuel. “This is serious. You can’t help but to panic honestly, I feel like it’s life-threatening for a lot of people.”

“We actually have a full supply of gas, so I feel like there’s no need to panic because we have plenty of gas,” Kaur said.

The Exxon on Broad Street has over 20-thousand gallons they are working with.

Other drivers aren’t as concerned about a shortage as they are the price at the pump.

“I don’t know what we are going to do. It’s fixing to get hot,” said driver, Barbara Robinson. “People want to travel and stuff, but the gas is going to be too expensive for us to take vacations.”

“At first it was the pandemic, now we’ve got to pay for this expensive gas. How am I going to take my kids to their doctor’s appointment? I ain’t got no gas,” Samuel said. “What we gonna do? This is preposterous.”

“I’m kind of worried about how long this is going to go on for because as I know, the longer this goes on, the higher the prices,” said Jeffrey Harris, who drives a truck. “I’m going to have to switch to a car before long.”

On Wednesday evening, Colonial Pipeline announced it has launched the restart of pipeline operations, adding they will move as much gas, diesel, and jet fuel as safely as possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal.

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