After Katina, there was a massive Gulf Coast gasoline shortage that lasted for weeks
Unless you lived on the Gulf Coast from Walton County Florida to the Louisiana/Texas border - you probably never heard about it.
There was NO gasoline - and you could not even buy a gas can - anywhere.
Most stations ran out before the storm - those that had gas after the storm soon ran dry.
People used FEMA money to buy generators, then used up the gas in their cars in a futile attempt to find gas to run them.
Caravans of pickups with trailers packed with gas cans roamed I-10 looking for gas to bring back to the stricken areas.
Local schools ran out of diesel to run buses and nearly closed three weeks after Katina made landfall.
This was more than an inconvenience - it was potentially life threatening.
This was the climatological peak of hurricane season.
If Hurricane Rita had made landfall between New Orleans and Fort Walton Beach FL - it would have been impossible for people to evacuate.
Thousands could have been trapped on evacuation routes.
In FL, JEB repeated the lie that mythical gasoline barges were on there way to Pensacola.
They never existed.
I sympathize with folks in New Jersey that have no gasoline - and I hope they get some soon.
But it is a crisis that could have been averted if someone had some foresight.
FEMA needs to have a plan to reenter a storm zone with generators to run gas stations, fuel to distribute and personnel to provide security BEFORE the storm hits.
FEMA could work with gasoline distributors to install storm-hardened circuitry that could quickly accept a generator at predetermined gas stations BEFORE hurricane season.
FEMA could preposition generators, operators and generator fuel outside the storm impact area BEFORE the storm hits.
FEMA could work with gasoline distributors to preposition gasoline tankers outside impact areas BEFORE the storm hits.
FEMA and state governments could work with distributors to price the gasoline to prevent gouging of consumers.
FEMA and state governments could allocate gas station security personnel to designated recovery stations BEFORE the storm hits.
There is no need for people to suffer like this.
Nope
