Two more weeks of gas chaos, official says

Atlanta’s chaotic gasoline shortage should be back to normal by Columbus Day, Oct. 13, at the latest, said Randy Bly of AAA South. That means about two more weeks of uncertainty, desperate searches for stations with gasoline and long lines at stations that do have gas.

Bly said Nashville had fuel shortages similar to those in metro Atlanta, but now 70 to 80 percent of the city is being supplied.

MARTA officials will be watching ridership closely today to see if they need to ramp up their schedules, said Rich Krisak, assistant general manager of rail operations. Overflow lots at the Oakland City and East Lake stations will be available.

Educational institutions from the Gwinnett County public schools to Georgia State University and others expect to hold classes as usual. Gwinnett spokeswoman Sloan Roach isn’t expecting any widespread problems with teachers making it to school today.

Still, uncertainty abounds. For example, Dom Grayson of Lithonia filled up his Volvo on Sunday in Decatur, but still planned to take MARTA today. Grayson explained: “It’s not the best option for me. But I don’t know when [fuel] will be available again.”

The chaos began when Hurricanes Gustav and Ike temporarily shut down Gulf Coast refineries. As shortages began to become evident, panicked motorists began topping off and filling up gas canisters. That has delayed a recovery, but the flow through major pipelines from the Gulf remains reduced. As of Friday, only three of the Gulf’s 56 refineries were still off line, but several open refineries were at reduced production levels.

Employers are taking a variety of measures to help employees cope.

“We encourage people to car pool, and we’re seeing more people doing it this past week,” said UPS’ Norman Black, who noticed that parking spaces set aside for car pools have been filling up. Delta Air Lines, Southern Insurance Underwriters and the CDC have embraced teleworking.