Colonial Pipeline Co.—the largest refined oil pipeline in the U.S.—was hit by a major cyber attack on May 8, prompting the company to shut down its 5,500 miles of gas pipelines and leading many people in the U.S. to panic-buy gasoline. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) even had to warn against hoarding gas amid reports of people dangerously filling up plastic bags and containers with the flammable liquid. Thankfully, on May 12, Colonial Pipeline resumed operations. And since then, the company has started delivering gas to all the markets they serve again: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. However, Colonial Pipeline also noted in a statement that it will take a few days for the supply chain to get back to normal, meaning many of those states are still experiencing shortages and outages. "Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during this start-up period," the company's May 13 news release explained.
Now, one week after the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, some states are fully up and running, according to user-reported data on GasBuddy as of May 15. But most states are still feeling the repercussions of the pipeline shutdown—including some areas the Colonial Pipeline doesn't reach, but were still affected as a result of the shortages nearby, like Washington, D.C., Arkansas, Kentucky, New York, and Florida. Those areas were included in the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Administration (USDOT's FMCSA) regional emergency declaration on May 9, along with the 13 states within the pipeline's reach.
In eight states in particular, at least one in four gas stations still don't have gas, GasBuddy reports. Based on their data, Best Life ranked the states experiencing the worst gas outages as of May 15. Keep reading to find out where they are.
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8 | Florida
ShutterstockPercent of all stations without gasoline: 24 percent
6 | Maryland
ShutterstockPercent of all stations without gasoline: 38 percent
5 | Virginia
ShutterstockPercent of all stations without gasoline: 42 percent
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4 | Georgia
ShutterstockPercent of all stations without gasoline: 46 percent
3 | South Carolina
ShutterstockPercent of all stations without gasoline: 49 percent
2 | North Carolina
Von Sharkshock / ShutterstockPercent of all stations without gasoline: 68 percent
1 | Washington D.C.
Von f11photo / ShutterstockPercent of all stations without gasoline: 81 percent
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