DANIA BEACH, Fla. – After the hacking of the Colonial Pipeline temporary caused a gasoline shortage in certain areas of the country, which ultimately caused people, including many people in South Florida, to panic-buy gas – the chaotic week is over.
Most gasoline stations are back up and running like normal, Thursday, without the crazy lines they were seeing on Wednesday, May 12.
“Our gasoline is not delivered from the Colonial Pipeline, it sails in through our ports and it continues sailing in through our ports despite the outage of the colonial pipeline,” explained AAA Spokesman Mark Jenkins.
However, there are still certain gasoline stations, such as a BP station in Dania Beach, that have been bled dry by panicked drivers. As of Thursday afternoon, some gas stations in Broward and Miami-Dade counties are still running on empty. Their nozzles are covered with bags, and their pumps taped off.
This unnecessary mad dash for gasoline occurred on Wednesday, May 12, even though South Florida does not (and never did) have a gas shortage.
On Wednesday, local government officials, such as Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, urged residents to stop panic-buying gasoline. “Stay calm,” she said. “Do not rush out to the gas stations to buy gas. Only if you rush and hoard will we have a problem.”
However, in spite of the reminders, panicked South Florida drivers bled tanks dry for no reason.
“Essentially, a lot of people are concerned about a gasoline shortage, but in essence, a lot of drivers are creating that shortage by racing out to the pumps and filling up,” explained Jenkins.
The good news: for the most part, gas stations across the area are full and business is going on as usual.
However, some are still waiting for fuel trucks to come by to get them back up and running.
A man running the previously mentioned BP gas station in Dania Beach told Local 10 they’re expecting a delivery sometime, Thursday. However, he’s not exactly sure when.
Nevertheless, to reiterate the issue: the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline had no impact whatsoever on the gas supply here in South Florida.
However, it did make us wonder if our fuel supply was and will be protected from similar attacks.