Power outages spark gas shortage fears
The chaos caused by the tornados that hit Phil Campbell, Hackleburg and Mount Hope Wednesday could be seen at local gas stations Thursday afternoon.
Several area gas stations had dozens of cars waiting to get to the pump to fill their cars and get fuel to run generators.
“They had been backed up down the highway,” said Deb Carr, manager at Murphy U.S.A. on Hwy 43 in Russellville.
The lines at that gas station began about 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning and by 1:30 p.m. there were still 24 cars waiting to pull up to one of the eight available pumps.
For the most part the patrons waiting for gas had been civil, but there were a few cases where customers got tired of waiting and attempted to cut to the head of the line.
“We had to call the police because people were acting stupid,” Carr said.
Carr said the police had to respond to a few incidents at Murphy U.S.A. and the Chevron located across the highway.
Most customers had to wait their turn in line, but Carr said she would make exceptions for certain situations if the circumstances were important. Of course, there were a few people who tried to take advantage.
“One guy cut in line to try and get gas so he could run his lawnmower,” Carr said.
“We had to turn him away and he wasn’t happy, but running a lawnmower is not a priority now.”
Richard Appleyard began his shift at Murphy U.S.A at 3:30 a.m. and said Thursday had been eventful for the employees.
“It’s outrageous. It’s been crazy,” Appleyard said. “We’ve had people cut in line and I’ve had to send them to the back of the line. They didn’t like it, but we would have a mutiny if we didn’t do that.”
Customers reported the wait time at the gas station at 1:30 p.m. Thursday was about 20-30 minutes.
He said many of the customers were looking for gas to run generators in areas that did not have power. The reason so many vehicles were in Russellville is because gas stations in many surrounding communities did not have power and could not run their pumps.
Carr said the day had been tough on employees not just because of the number of customers, but also hearing the stories from those customers. She said she spoke with several customers who lost their homes or family members during the storms.
She said the stress her and the other employees experienced Thursday was nothing compared to what others were going through.
“You have to count your blessings,” Carr said. “Look at Phil Campbell. There are a lot of families there without homes.”
