After the gas shortage in North Carolina peaked Wednesday night (May 12) with nearly 75% of all stations reporting no gasoline, the numbers slightly improved Thursday morning, with around 71% of stations experiencing a shortage, according to ABC 11.
The slight improvement comes after the Colonial Pipeline announced Wednesday afternoon that it had resumed operations, hoping to ease concerns of gas storage across the East Coast but saying it may still take some time.
"Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions during the start-up period," the company said in a statement. "Colonial will move as much gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel as is safely possible and will continue to do so until markets return to normal."
Secretary for the U.S. Department of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm said that the pipeline coming back online means that things should hopefully return to normal by the end of the weekend. Others, such as GasBuddy Data Analyst Patrick De Haan, say it could take a bit more time for the harder hit states, like North Carolina, due to the sheer amount of gas station shortages around the state.
During the panic-buying craze, the high demand for gas led to a national price increase not seen in several years. Gas prices soared to more than $3 per gallon in some areas, WCNC reports, while the average price per gallon increased by 25 cents.
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