Looking for a place to purchase gas for your car or generator in New Jersey or New York has most likely been a lot more complicated than usual.
Thanks to the horrific Hurricane Sandy, gas stations have been running out of gas left and right and once you find one that does actually have gas, you may have to wait an estimated half hour to four hours in line.
Reuters suggests motorists to go online before venturing out to find a gas station to save yourself from waiting in long lines that may not even guarantee you gas in the first place.
By going on to Twitter and typing either "#njgas" or "#nygas", people have been able to see where people are going to get gas nearby. Some Twitter handles like @GasBuddy and @njgas have been posting exact locations as well to help people out.
"As soon as someone gives us a lead, they follow it and get there, and there's not always gas," says Michael Sandler, a lawyer who started the @njgas Twitter account earlier this year to monitor local gas prices to Reuters.
Sandler does caution people though, due to the recent popularity in the page those gas stations have been running out of fuel quickly. He advises followers to avoid rest stops on major highways as well, as the average wait period for them have been somewhere between two to three hours long according Reuters.
GasBuddy meanwhile has been a lifesaver for drivers as most people have been able to go to the locations the account has been tweeting and each station has had gas. This seems like a problem that no one would ever run into, but it is happening more often then not especially the past 24 hours.
"The gas stations don't have a way to let us know there's no gas, if it's a digital sign, they'll just turn it off," said Jason Toews, co-founder of the GasBuddy app to Reuters." I haven't seen a fuel situation so dire in GasBuddy's 12-year history, aside from Hurricane Katrina."
Over 23 million people use the app, which is mainly used to help motorist find the location with the cheapest gas under normal circumstances.
People in NY have been experiencing the same problem as well, and no one really knows exactly when stations will be receiving gas on a regular basis again causing people to wait in such ridiculously long lines.
"We have a process in place to start moving in that direction," said Ralph Izzo, PSE&G CEO. "Hopefully we'll be able to work with those stations and get them up and running."
The storm, which killed over 90 people, has forced a great deal of gas stations to close or has disrupted fuel deliveries to those that haven't closed yet according to CNN. The American Automobile Association estimates that 60 percent of gas stations in New Jersey have been affected, meanwhile 70 percent of stations in New York have been as well.
So if you're in need of gas whether it's for your car, generator, or just to have some as a precaution, make sure to check online first to see which stations still have gas left. It may save you time and a headache.
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