Drivers flock to pumps

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Even as gas prices climbed in the Charlotte area on Friday, some stations ran dry. 

All of the commotion was caused by a storm that hadn’t even made landfall yet.

“Today, tomorrow, it’s crazy,” said Bipin Ganhdi, owner of a CITGO station at Park Road and Woodlawn.

He, like so many others, remembers the lines that formed after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast three years ago.

Many of those who filled their tanks on Friday were worried the same thing would happen after Hurricane Ike comes ashore near Houston.

“It is plain fear,” said Tom Crosby, Vice President for Communications for the American Automobile Association. ”What we are having is hysteria over what could happen.”

Prices seemed to climb by the hour. Some stations were selling all brands at over $4.00 a gallon. 

At the Park Road CITGO, owner Ganhdi was charging the highest price of any of the three gas stations at that intersection. He said the reason was the two other stations bought their gas Thursday early in the day.

“After 6 o’clock (last night) the price changed,” he said. So he was forced to pay the higher price and pass it on to his customers.

Even with the higher prices, Ganhdi ran out of gas by mid-afternoon Friday. He is hoping his next shipment will come Friday night, and he has no idea what it will cost when it gets to his pumps.

AAA suggests that if you have more than a quarter of a tank of gas, then don’t rush to fill up.

Wait 24 to 48 hours and see what Ike does when it finally makes it to land and the oil refineries.