Gas shortages affecting life in Southeast

ATLANTA, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Gas shortages, the result of two hurricanes, are causing chaos, conflicts and class cancellations in parts of the southeastern United States, officials say.

A commuter college in Asheville, N.C., canceled classes due to the shortage and cars have run out of gas while their drivers wait in lines 60 cars long in Atlanta, The Washington Post reported.

Several public officials have asked motorists to remain calm but Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's comment "there is ample fuel in the city" on an Atlanta Journal-Constitution Web site provoked some readers.

"Then why is it that every gas station in my area is out of gas. Some have been out for over four days," one reader commented.

"The production loss is similar to what was lost after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina," Shell Oil spokeswoman Anne Peebles told the Post.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Energy Department said 63 percent of refinery production from the Gulf of Mexico are was shut down from hurricane damage.

While refinery damage was considered modest, the start up process for a refinery, closed due to power outages, takes about a week. Hurricane Gustav made landfall on Sept. 1, followed 12 days later.