The Great Gas Run of Aught Five: pt. II

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The Great Gas Run of Aught Five is on again, folks. It hasn’t quite boiled over into panic buying, but it’s close.

So let me say it again, now: It’s going to be OK, people. There’s going to be gasoline. Don’t freak out. Just go easy. Conserve. Slow down. Consolidate trips. Carpool. Ride your bicycle. It’s going to be OK.

As you recall, this happened just a couple of weeks ago, post-Hurricane Katrina. People locally started hoarding gas as the price skyrocketed. At one point, a couple of stations around Ashvegas briefly chargied $4 a gallon.

Gas stations started running out of fuel. Cars stacked up, waiting in line to buy. Stations closed early. About a third of Buncombe County’s 90 stations ran dry.

Now, it’s happening again, as CNN hammers home Monster Rita and warns that gas could hit $5 a gallon. Gasoline on my street went up 10 cents today, from $2.68 this morning to $2.78 tonight. When I stopped to fill up, the station cashier said he’d been “flooded” since 4 p.m.

Can we all just take a deep breath here and stop and think for a minute?