East Coast fuel shortages caused people to panic and line up at fuel pumps. A recent fuel pipeline hack occurred which left gas stations worried and running out of fuel. The hack shut down operations on the Colonial Pipeline, which is responsible for delivering up to 45% of the Southeast’s fuel.

“There were lines on top of lines full of cars trying to fill up on gas. All I wanted was to fill my car up, but I was stuck waiting for almost 40 minutes,” said junior Isabelle Mcgrath.

‘Panic buying’ mainly caused this shortage. Panic buying across the region has sent the U.S. average gasoline price up to $2.99, the highest since November 2018.

Communities are starting to see the effects of this new shortage. For example, Ocean Lakes High School has temporarily paused all track meets due to the shortage.

“This fuel shortage was shocking however, I feel this fuel shortage could have been avoided if people would have been more thoughtful and not hoarded the gas from people who truly needed it,” said junior Riley Allen.