Rumor of no gas starts run on stations in Nashville

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by sheen_estevez, Sep 20, 2008.


  1. sheen_estevez

    sheen_estevez Monkey+++

    Saw this clip on the new, interesting how a rumor of no gas started panic and a rush to the gas stations.

    http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/09/19/nashville.gas/index.html

    (CNN) -- Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy: An estimated three-fourths of gas stations in the Nashville, Tennessee, area ran dry Friday, victim of an apparent rumor that the city was running out of gas. Officials said panic regarding a rumor of a lack of gas caused customers to rush to the pumps. "Everybody has just gone nuts," said Mike Williams, executive director of the Tennessee Petroleum Council.

    He said he has no idea about the origin of a rumor that there was going to be no gas in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nashville</st1:place></st1:city>. One reporter called him, saying she had heard that <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nashville</st1:place></st1:city> would be without gas within the hour, he said.

    Hearing the rumor, drivers rushed to fill their cars and trucks.

    CNN called 13 Nashville gas stations at random. Only two reported having gas, and one said it was almost out. The stations said they were being told they would not get more until Monday or Tuesday.

    Katie Givens Kime, visiting from Atlanta, Georgia, was trying to fill up her tank for the trip home when she ran into trouble -- when she was already low on gas.
    "We panicked and looked online," she said. "And holy cow, there is no gas in the city. ... It has definitely gripped the city, for sure."

    One store clerk told her there was no way she could get gas to go back home, she said.
    Williams said some drivers were following gas trucks to see where they were headed, and lines at some stations were a mile long. Fuel was continuing to enter the city, however, as pipelines were working and barges were coming in.

    He likened it to Southerners rushing out to stock up on bread and milk when they hear it might snow. As stations began running low, the situation snowballed, he said.

    One station reported selling as much gas Friday as it usually does in a weekend, Williams said.
    The phenomenon seemed to be isolated to the Nashville area, he said.

    Givens Kime said she found a station online that still had gas and waited more than an hour to pump it.

    "People were freaked out," she said. A "renegade bunch" of men helped direct traffic to and from the pumps, even taking drivers' cash inside for them. She described people filling cans and other containers as well as cars.

    She said that the station was not engaging in price gouging but that "emotions were running very high" among drivers.
     
  2. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    "Call it a self-fulfilling prophecy: An estimated three-fourths of gas stations in the <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1:pLACE w:st="on"><ST1:CITY w:st="on">Nashville</ST1:CITY>, <ST1:STATE w:st="on">Tennessee</ST1:STATE></ST1:pLACE>, area ran dry Friday,"


    Hehehe..... My words, almost exactly - a week ago here in the Deep South. "Night of the Stampeding Sheep" I also called it.
    Now, it spreads elsewhere. The ripples spreading from the epicenter of the Gulf.

    Learned my lesson - store more gas!

    And if you can, get a small Diesel vehicle - diesel supplies remained normal down here! The diesel Mercedes and P/U truck drivers had to have been laughing themselves silly. [lolol]

    Heaven help us if we get another string of 'canes........
     
  3. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Rumors plus mob psychology equals a run on something. Including banks. What a world we live in.
     
  4. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Yep, same as that 'rice shortage' a couple months back. The MSM drives the Sheep to run amok - then they sit back and giggle at their ratings going up, up, up!

    Willy Shakespeare once said, "First, kill the lawyers!'

    I would begin with the MSM....... :lol:

    Wonder what will be running out next month.....?

    Get the Plastic warmed up, and warn the herd......
     
  5. sheen_estevez

    sheen_estevez Monkey+++

    My wife is telling me she has to take the boat out for a ride today because the tank is filled up and it's almost time to store it, sometimes I wonder what she is thinking. Told her to leave it alone, I'll take care of it. Hell why burn 20 gallons of gas just because it's time to "store the boat"

    But yes, next week it will be something else, I'm really surprised there wasn't a run on the banks last week. But then again in 29 when the market crashed things didn't just stop, it took a bit for the effects to catch up to people, in fact the market rebounded into the first part of 1930. Hmm, better go check the supplies...
     
  6. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Going into October and I'm still reading reports of gas shortages, long lines and high prices in north Georgia and western NC. Hope it improves soon for those folks!
     
  7. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Something isn't right about this gas situation. From what I've seen on the news a lot of areas in this country have people lining up for gas, while our gas prices have been dropping in price. Gas yesterday was at $3.45/gal.
     
  8. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Yep, finally hitting down into the $3.40's here too. Wonder why the Smokies are getting hammered?
     
  9. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    ?Just a wild thought flying by(not finely evaluated intelligence);This is waaaaay out there:
    [tf][dunno]Uh 4,700 first brigade troops in Georgia?????taser1[tng2][whistle2][tf][tf][tf]Why drive to Idaho when you can set off the unrest so close to home????taser1
     
  10. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    Paid $3.09 at the pump the other day [beer]
     
  11. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    $2.99/9 showed up around here. I guess there is some progress in the supply pipeline. One might guess how long it will take for demand to come back up and find a balance --
     
  12. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    On the average, gas is $2.98/gallon regular in town, and $2.89/gallon on the outskirts here in Tally. One Texaco on the westside where I live, has just dropped to $2.79/gallon.
    I have two more five gallon cans to fill tonight.

    If all goes well, we could see gas in the $2.50's by payday - and I'll have a few more cans to fill.....

    It ain't been this cheap since we had a Republican Congress. [ROFL]
     
  13. sheen_estevez

    sheen_estevez Monkey+++

    filled up this morning at 3.09 left work tonight 2.99 [beat]
     
  14. dragonfly

    dragonfly Monkey+++

    In Phoenix, the gas prices are like a yo-yo!
    They go up, they come down...never the same more than 1 day!
    Weird!
    I'm still waiting for the reverberations from the so-called "incident" with the dreaded
    "Kinder-Morgan" pipeline!
    It was said to have had some leakages, again, last month!
    Bill
     
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