We are not affected by this here in Columbus, OH so it’s like watching y’all in the southeast through a fishbowl.  Bring it home for me, peeps.  Tell me your stories.  How is this gas shortage affecting you?

from peakoil.com…

HOUSTON — Some gasoline stations in parts of the Southeast are out of fuel and shortages could persist for days as refiners continue to recover from the one-two punch of hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

The storm, which struck the Texas coast 10 days ago, caused less damage to the region’s energy infrastructure than feared. In most cases, the biggest issue for refiners has been getting electricity restored and their equipment restarted — a process that can take several days because of the size and complexity of the plants.

“We’re capable of running full operations, but we don’t have the supply to maintain that kind of flow rate,” said Steve Baker, a spokesman for Colonial Pipeline, which delivers gasoline and other fuel from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to major cities in the Southeast and along the East Coast.

Baker said Monday the pipeline, which was not damaged in the storms, was beginning to get barrels from affected refineries, but he couldn’t say when Colonial would be back at full capacity.

That all depends on how soon the refineries themselves return to normal operations.

excerpt from usatoday.com…

The pipelines that supply the region are operating at less than normal capacity, due largely to storm-related power outages at Texas refineries, said Kenneth Medlock, energy fellow at the Baker Institute, a non-partisan public policy think tank at Rice University in Houston.

The Southeast, the only region of the nation that has no oil refining or major gasoline storage capacity, pumps all of its gasoline in by pipeline, he said.

“In isolation, neither of these storms would have been that big a deal, because there’s enough inventory (at stations) to make up the shortfall,” said Medlock. “But there was a three- to four-week period of refinery capacity not operating. That’s basically a month when nothing’s being produced.”

Panic buying — drivers topping off every time they happen across a station that actually has gas — made the problem worse, said Marylee Booth, executive director of the Tennessee Oil Marketers Association.

“If people saw a tanker drive up to a station, they’d start lining up. The panic has died down. It’s getting a little better every day.”

I am hearing and reading that Nashville has the worst of this situation.

Talk to me local gulf region folks. What’s it like down there?

With the current political climate, everyone wants to be the hero, so I can only hope and pray that if Gustav hits hard my country will have done ALL it can do and will take an IMMEDIATE call to action in the aftermath.

check one of my favorite sources (fellow blog supporter) for more…  NEW ORLEANS LADDER

Man!  I’m going to run late to work as I dress and am glued to CNN.  McCain is speaking now.  What a great opportunity for him to showcase himself.  He is doing the right thing.  I only hope that we also get to hear from Obama today as well.

What I’m most worried about is the mental health of so many victims from just 3 years ago, almost to the very day.  Just imagine what that triggers for the young children, even ones who are in other parts of the country and the world who witnessed it on television and may not have completely sorted out what Mother Nature’s fury can and has done not only in the US, but all over the world.

Remember all the reports with images like the one below? (source: People mag from 2005)

and all of the faces we watched with hope and despair…

I’m not trying to exploit these photos nor sensationalize, but I want you to reflect and think about the impact.  Sometimes for us, it takes that “in your face” imagery to get us to really register what’s going on.

Hopefully, Gustav comes in and leaves like a lamb as it approaches the gulf region.

p.s. I’m sooooo glad that everyone is able to take their pets with them as they evacuate.  I can’t imagine what I would do if I were ever forced to leave my doggie behind presented with an urgent situation.  He’s my baby, a part of my family, and I know all animal lovers completely recognize what a wonderful comfort they are during good and bad times.