Gasoline Reportedly Still Scarce on Gulf Coast

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n the hurricane-battered Mississippi coast, gasoline is running as high as $5 a gallon — and tempers of those trying to get fuel are running high too, the Associated Press reported.

One woman waited seven hours in line for a 5-gallon container, which cost her $25, and many fuel tanker trucks are being escorted by police vehicles, AP said.

Overall, gasoline shortages were starting to ease in parts of Mississippi where power has been restored and tanker trucks were beginning to operate, AP said.

But in rural areas, finding fuel for cars and generators is a daily struggle that has driven some people to extremes, AP said. When people get gas, they protect it like gold. Gas cans poke up from truck beds everywhere, many secured with chains and locks.

One coastal resident, a large man with a Dodge Ram pickup truck, has even been unnerved by the thought of refueling. He's seen people yelling and jockeying for position in gas lines, and fuel robberies are a threat, AP reported.

In hard-hit areas, fuel lines start shortly after 6 a.m., when the nightly curfew is lifted, and last until the curfew restarts at 6 p.m. Fuel-starved motorists form caravans behind tanker trucks in hopes of being the first in line.

In Jackson, Miss., 160 miles inland, the search for gas remains a struggle for motorists, who sometimes wait in mile-long lines, and some have run out of gas while waiting, AP reported.