Government Warns “Do Not Fill Plastic Bags With Gasoline” in the Face of Gas Shortages, Tensions Are High
As a result of a cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline, many people have decided to go out and panic buy gasoline. The actual gasoline shortages seem to be restricted to specific areas in the Southeast. However, lines are forming at gas stations around the country as people try to get as much as they can.
Things are getting so bad that officials have had to warn individuals not to load up gasoline in plastic bags or other unapproved containers. Yes, people will really do anything. Other individuals have been seen in physical confrontations over gas pumps.
🤔This falls firmly in the “What the What?!!!!!” category!
Posted by Moparian on Wednesday, May 12, 2021
In any case, folks have been using whatever they can to hoard as much gasoline as possible. We aren’t quite sure what sparked this blind hoarding effort that seems to impact everything from toilet paper to hand sanitizer but it seems to run rampant in America.
And this is how someone thinks they should get gas…🙄 #gasshortage pic.twitter.com/XT7APSI9rM
— Tyler in Texas (@ty_p3) May 12, 2021
Tons of photos have surfaced of people filling up anything and everything with gas, presumably to stash it away in their garages.
The shutdown is said to have disrupted the transport of roughly half of the gasoline used on the East Coast. Gas stations in some states are running out of fuel while others have decided to hike their prices up a little bit. Most of the country remains unaffected, though.
Do not fill plastic bags with gasoline.
— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) May 12, 2021
Because of the headline reading without actually looking into the story that happens so frequently, panic buying has set in, regardless of if the area impacted actually has a gasoline shortage or not.
Officials tell us that the pipeline is predicted to come back online later this week as the cyberattack is still being investigated and that panic is not necessary. The vast majority of people should remain unaffected by the hack.
A fight erupted at a crowded gas station in North Carolina when a woman reportedly tried to cut the line during panic buying sparked by the Colonial Pipeline shutdown.
