The southeast gas shortage has brought out some interesting stories as the community faces shortages in the supply.  Among some of the random tid bits…

- The governor of Georgia has offered to shut down various government services to reduce usage, including shutting down schools. (Schools?)

- Arguments breaking out at gas stations with accusations that gas station owners are holding out.

- Taxis changing the way they serve/find customers so they don’t run out of gas sitting idle.

- Lawn/yard maintenance people waiting extended periods to get gas for their mowers and blowers.

- People running out of gas searching for gas with some stranded on the highway and being rescued by the department of transportation.

On the bright side, many people are carpooling and finding alternate ways to commute.  I drove on the Perimeter yesterday during rush hour and surprisingly it felt like Sunday afternoon traffic.

Citizens of Atlanta are flocking to the gas stations as news of the gas shortage spreads.  This CNN video shows footage of Atlantans going from gas station to gas station trying to find gas.

The gas shortage in Atlanta is a result of two factors.

1. The oil refineries were shut down for several days due to Hurricane Ike, and it takes a while to get the flow of gas in the pipeline back to normal.
2. Consumer reaction.  People are panicking and buying gas at a rate much higher than normal.

A search on TweetScan shows people’s real time reaction to the Atlanta gas shortage.

How are you dealing with the shortage? How high is the price of gas in Atlanta going to get before shortage gets resolved?

Let’s see how well Atlanta Gas Buddy tracks this gas crisis.