Panic buys due to gas shortage

GEORGIA.- Gas stations on the East Coast, mainly in states like Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and North Carolina, are running out of fuel, and, where there is still some fuel, drivers experience long lines to load gas.

The problem is due to the closure of the Colonial Pipeline, which was cyberattacked by the organization called DarkSide, which keeps it without operation for the sixth day.

The emergency sparked panic buying of gas; motorists are filling their car tanks and containers, although there are gas stations that limit sales to ten dollars per car.

Gas shortages in states

According to a CNN report, 28.2% of all gas stations in North Carolina, 17.5% in Georgia and 17.1% in Virginia are out of gas, according to GasBuddy, an app that tracks fuel demand.

In some places like Atlanta, prices increased from $ 2.59 to $ 3 a gallon.

Supply shortages appear to be much worse in some of the major metropolitan areas.

Panic Buying in Metropolitan area

GasBuddy reported outages Wednesday morning that affected 71% of stations in the Charlotte metropolitan area, nearly 60% in Atlanta, 72% in Raleigh and 73% in Pensacola.

Colonial Pipeline reported that by the weekend it could restore the operation of its main pipeline, whose operation had been affected by a cyberattack by a data hijacking (ransomware).