AAA: Gas deliveries on the way

New deliveries from gas suppliers will soon ease the the gas shortage that started two weeks ago with Hurricane Ike, AAA said today.

Gasoline shipments were expected to arrive today in terminals in Charlotte, Selma, and Spartanburg, S.C. According to a news release issued this afternoon by AAA Carolinas, there should soon be a "repleneshing" level of gasoline in Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro and other areas hit hard by gas shortages this week.

More refineries in the Gulf of Mexico have come on-line, with only four of the 17 Houston-area refineries still closed, AAA Carolinas president and CEO David E. Parsons said in the release.

"Our advice to motorists with a one-fourth of a tank or more is to wait, when possible, and check for gas availability Saturday and Sunday," Parson said in the release. "It is likely that stations will have more gas available this weekend; it will take time for tankers to deliver to different stops."

It may still take a week or more for the Southeast region to receive larger shipments of gasoline, however, and some shortages may continue.

Although Triangle stations also reported sporadic shortfalls, the most serious disruptions have been in western North Carolina.

In Asheville, city offices, community colleges, the civic center and all parks and recreation centers were closed on Thursday and may stay closed into next week.

Drivers in the Charlotte region today were waiting patiently -- and, in some cases, impatiently -- for a promised large shipment of gasoline expected to reach the Queen City by afternoon.

But the lines and traffic disruptions that dominated on Thursday continued this morning, with people in some cases having parked at gas stations overnight, waiting near the pumps with their tanks on empty. As was the case yesterday, arguments and scuffles are breaking out as frustrations boiled over.

A woman in line at a Citgo station in Charlotte this morning told others in line she was saving a place for her father, who was on his way with gas cans. The station, at Parkwood Avenue and The Plaza, was selling only premium gas. The wait was about 45 minutes.

Several residents got out of their cars and began cursing at the woman, who went nose to nose with one man before someone called 911 amid a chorus of car horns. In pouring rain, one man threatened to "hurt" the driver of a Ford F150 who was confused by the line and got to the pump before him. Two police officers arrived and calmed everyone down.

Gifford and others were urging people not to "panic pump" and thus contribute to shorter supplies.

The gasoline terminal and tanks in Spartanburg, S.C., that serve western North Carolina were being refilled Thursday, and the Charlotte terminal was expected to be refilled today, said Alan Hirsch, policy director for Gov. Mike Easley. That should improve gas flow in both areas, he said.

The shortages follow Hurricane Ike, which shut down Gulf Coast refineries and the crucial pipeline that feeds North Carolina. Officials say shortages might continue for another few weeks.

Hirsch said Easley's office helped orchestrate tanker truck shipments from Knoxville, Tenn., and Wilmington to alleviate the shortage, but a long-term plan to prevent shortages is needed.

"It's clear we need to have better ideas for the future," he said. "As soon as we get this situation stabilized, those are the tough questions we're going to be asking of experts."

Despite the deliveries expected today, anyone driving to the mountains this weekend to pick apples or to see the foliage might want to take along extra gas.