I drove to Hammond yesterday to deliver ice and dry ice to a friend who desperately needed it. The drive itself was uneventful but yours truly made several observations while smelling the sweet smell of fresh-cut pine only the smell wasn't so sweet when one remembers why it was cut.
* The gas stations need to start placing limits on gasoline purchases. I made a point to get off at every exit after Crystal Springs that had gas stations. There were lines at every station from Hazelhurst to Hammond. Some stations such as the Chevron at the first McCombo exhibit organized the lines by placing employees in the parking lot to direct traffic. However, most of them let the customers fend for themselves.
We have enough gasoline to fuel our vehicles and most of those from Louisiana. What we don't have is enough gasoline to fuel our cars, their cars, and all the generators they are using to power their homes. It is heartbreaking to see what is taking place in Southeast Louisiana right now. However, we just don't have enough gas for everyone's needs. The Kingfish saw more than one truck heading down I-55S with 5-10 gas cans in the bed of the truck. Then there are the guys driving up with those big-ass drums. The return trip saw all of the Brookhaven stations out of gas and most of those in McComb. Gas stations that had available inventory at lunchtime were bone dry before supper time.
Katrina crippled Jackson. Long gas lines soon developed as stations ran out of gas. Supply was limited. After a few days, gas stations started limiting customers to purchases of 10-20 gallons. Suddenly the lines eased as most people were able purchase gas in a reasonable amount of time. I've noticed that whenever limits are used during times of emergency demand, shortages and frustrations tend to disappear.
The state or local governments should encourage or order the service stations in the counties of heavy demand to place reasonable limits on gas purchases. 15-20 gallons is more than enough to fill up most cars and SUV's. It is not enough to power generators for long periods of time but the Mayors of affected towns are telling the residents to leave town as they have no power, water, or cellphone service.
* Who is the genius who closed the bathrooms at the state line rest area on I-55N? Genius move, especially when people can't get to bathrooms because of long gas lines. Sort of like starting major road construction on the first day of school.
* Pack your own lunch if traveling down there. Fast food places actually resemble Chick Fil A where there are no Chick Fil A's in one respect: Long lines.
* One funny observation. The usual speeders were absent where gas was short. I never saw a tailgater or Mario Andretti wannabe south of Hazelhurst. Things looked normal the closer I got to Jackson where gas supply was normal. Many drivers stayed under the speed limit.
48 comments:
Assuming there is no critical gas shortage, and that is what I understand, limiting gas would only force people to go fill up more often further exasperating the slow down even more at the pumps. In many cases if not most, the distribution of gas is prohibited because of the absence of electricity.
Likely should. The state should also limit what state and county heads can do as far as mandating vaccines. Where you at Tate ?
Its a mess. But putting government in charge of any type of commerce usually results in a bigger mess.
Have to drive to Houston for a family problem. Anyone heard of this or other issues on 12 from Hammond to Baton Rogue and 10 West through LA to TX?
Your comment about the "genius" who closed the rest stop bathrooms was on target. The genius was the "lean on the shovel" crowd at MDOT." That agency needs an overhaul. Where are our highway commissioners? Answer: AWOL.
Was a F250 with LA plates in the Madison Home Depot lot couple of days ago loading what appeared to be every gas can in the place into the bed and the back of the crew cab. I had little doubt their next stop was a gas station.
Difference between Katrina and now is those fuel shortages were significantly more widespread.
Fill your cars and cans before storms and you should be okay.
Media giving Biden a big time pass relative to Ida.
12:32, why risk it? Go through Shreveport through Nacagdoches. It's just a touch longer that way on normal conditions. Lake Charles is still coming out of its own hell from last year and they have road construction on 10 all around there.
12:50, that is unfortunately not correct. Anyone who had gas pre-storm and whose supply survived the wind and water is assuredly out of it by now. It takes a lot of fuel to run a generator. Even one small enough to do the bare minimum of running a fridge and a fan so your kids can eat and don’t die of heat stroke.
Thank you 12:56.
Yes but we don't have enough gas to run their cars and homes.
Those generators use 10-20 gallons per day. Do the math.
12:24: You mean like the Texas power grid? Oh, wait. It was the "free market" that's responsible for that debacle.
12:24 wins the day.
We have plenty of gas.
Quit being alarmist.
All of a sudden you want government in your life.
Hypocrite
Before this Louisiana catastrophe is over Biden, Edwards, and Cantrell will make Bush, Blanco and Nagin look like Rhodes Scholars. They are simply ignoring the basic needs of all these poor people stuck in a living hell.
Hell no
@12:01 pm
Markets are more efficient and fairer distributors of commodities than government dicta, every time.
When people suffer because gas costs too much, Biden is the corpse rending vulture who destroyed cheap abundant fuel that Trump enabled just so Democrats could dictate who lives and who dies.
Makes me glad the house I bought has a natural gas generator. I'll hate the bill when it comes due, but at least I'll save the gas for the car.
12:50 here.
Lived 'the math' with 7 people in the house during the Katrina aftermath. It doesn't take 10-20 gallons per day to run a fridge and fan to cool the kiddies. That's bullshit. People purchase too big of a generator and try to power too much of their household without any consideration for fuel consumption. Portable gas generators aren't anything but a short-term stop gap solution and thinking you can keep feeding them with cans is damn short-sighted.
Everyone has to do a cost-benefit analysis for themselves. If you want, or must have, full home standby generation capacity then you'll need to pay for it. That's the bottom line.
@1:27 PM, my advice to fill cars and cans before storms was, and is, for us up here.
@12:32 You can do Shreveport to Nacogdoches to N Houston OR you can cross Natchez to Alexandria then down 165 to Lake Charles for S Houston. Both good routes that avoid major storm issues. Do NOT go I-12 till next week at least.
Unfortunately the green movement has seen the diesel option for passenger vehicles mostly sail. It was pretty easy to get to a diesel pump in Katrina. But, a good option for generators if prepared in advance.
So say I am rich as hell. I drive in with my big ass trailer carrying a bunch of big ass drums and I buy up alot, I mean alot, of gas even if station is charging a higher price due to demand. Now the area is deprived of gas. There is a public order feature here.
Mississippi voters pass medical marijuana. Suddenly a delta surge and historic hurricane strike the Magnolia State. Not a coincidence.
One thing people have from South of I-10 that we dont is commuting via boat. Most homes have multiples. With the amount of places cut off with the water still high, Myrtle Grove to Venice, and other impassible roads, many of our friends down there are commuting back and forth daily to work on their houses. Boats use a bunch of gas. Some of those runs from Houma south, or other jumping off points take many gallons daily. I have no doubt a lot of that is being used for that reason. Also, LA is a lot more populated than up here. Most likely you see one person running up here & filling up for several families for several days. I can almost assure you it's not greed or monopolizing. Some, maybe, most, unlikely. I saw today a boat that is running supplies to Venice out of Orange Beach.
"Mississippi voters pass medical marijuana. Suddenly a delta surge and historic hurricane strike the Magnolia State. Not a coincidence."
What the hell Fish Man? I get it passing around the bong during a covid pandemic aint the smart thing to do, but dang, medical marijuana brought us a historic hurricane strike? Is that what they call "The Green New Feel"?!
The store owner and the other customers would take care of that scenario kingfish. Store owners can and do limit purchases for various reasons.
2:02, nope it was the environmentalists and the regulators. That market is only minimally competitive.
Walmart generators aren’t big enough to run household HVAC. And with everything closed, what do you need gas for? Can’t go to the grocery or the bank. Should have evacuated when they told you to.
After a re-think and a bit of study........I say no to limits on fuel. Besides, there aren't any real shortages and trucks are on the move.
Has Biden activated the death panel yet?
KF @3:05 pm
With a steel trailer full of steel oil drums filled with gasoline bouncing on the other Kingfish's (Huey Long's) bumpy roads in South LA heat you are:
1. Too stupid to get rich or live long, and...
2. Fixing to light up a city block due to heat expansion and sparks.
I completely agree with you! Are some people completely unaware that they need to leave some gas for others? Filling yoir tank and multiple gas cans, and drums is greedy and inconsiderate. Before the next catastrophe, a limit needs to be set to prevent this.
So, we have this: “The state or local governments should encourage or order the service stations in the counties of heavy demand. . . ”, etc.
And, we have this: “Who is the genius who closed the bathrooms at the state line rest area on I-55N?"
Why don’t you be consistent then and say, “The state or local governments should encourage or order the bathrooms in the counties of heavy demand . . .", etc.
Seriously, the same state and local governments in Mississippi that run the restrooms are going to control the distribution of gasoline? Seriously???????????
Wouldn’t it have been great to have a pipeline to billions of barrels of proven reserves in a US friendly country in North America? Wait a minute, we had that with Trump until O Biden cancelled it his first day in office. Suck it up green energy bitches!!!
4:20, I used quotation marks around “free markets” because there is no such thing. But it ain’t the environmentalists and regulators that caused the cluster in Texas. It was unbridled and shortsighted greed, cloaked in the respectability of “free-market economics,” which only exists in theory.
-2:02
The average UST is 10-20k gallons capacity. Busy stores get deliveries to fill up daily. Buying an extra 110 gallons isn’t going to create a shortage in MS.
generator gas, saw a man fill 6 5g cans and two 35g drums for his return home.
Sitting here still trying to figure out who and why somebody in Louisiana is 'desperately in need of ice' that would cause me to drive from Jackson with it.
During and after Katrina, that was the job of the National Guard, even in the church parking lots in Madison.
Sounds like KF wanted a road trip.
Meanwhile, if the Coca-Cola Cowboy at Ag would ban the use of drums for personal gasoline use...and the State DOT would require those drums for urinals at state rest stops...(As you can tell, I am solution-minded.)
All you poors need to get a whole home natural gas backup generator (or bury a propane tank). Get with the times boomers.
No, the state should never be in charge of limits on anything, including prices. If there were no laws about “price gouging” then the price of gas during a temporary shortage would temporarily be much higher. People would thus limit the amount they purchase, thus creating a higher supply, allowing more people to purchase. The free market always works better than government.
I renew neighbors during Katrina running a generator during the day to power fans and TVs. If fuel were temporarily $10/gallon would they have done that, or saved it to keep the refrigerator charged?
I sympathize with these poor folks seeking fuel. I think we can and should accommodate them as much as possible. I did the exact same thing in Katrina's aftermath. Had to drive nearly to Tupelo from the coast to find enough fuel to fill my two drums.
That gasoline, a generator, a small window-unit a/c and a fan, were what kept my elderly mother in law alive for the 3 weeks + we were without power.
The better practice, though, is to fill your drums before the crisis hits. I keep a couple of full drums on hand. Use and replenish the gas regularly and make sure you're topped off come June 1.
@6:05am - I think the resume term you were looking for is “solution oriented”
8:33 - It's illegal to bury a functioning propane tank. Our employees don't feel comfortable entering your home. It may soon be dangerous for us to come into your home, so be sure to call when your tank gauge reads 1/3 full. Keep matches away from children. This has been a public service announcement.
hey wuhan bob@11:23 - somebody better haul me to jail cuz mine has been buried for over 20 years. maroon.
3;44 pm makes an excellent point I hadn’t considered. That “gas hoarder” with the drums may be providing fuel for a boat that is a lifeline for many people. I think maybe we ought to give each other a break, and perhaps the benefit of the doubt. But it’s easier said than done, for me at least.
First, regarding the commenter who said "It was pretty easy to get to a diesel pump in Katrina," that was NOT my experience in the Jackson area.
Second, I disagree with Kingfish's position and most of his justifications.
Most honest gas stations will limit the amount of gas you can purchase after a disaster. After Katrina in Purvis you could buy twenty bucks worth. Then you could get back in line to purchase more. Those stations who don’t ration are the greedy ones here!
@8:33 - "It's illegal to bury a functioning propane tank."
Yet the propane company buried mine and refills it as needed. Where did you obtain your information?
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