Out of Gas

The gas shortage continues here in this area. I don't understand it. According to the national news this is only a problem in the southeast, primarily North Carolina and South Carolina. The rest of the country has gas but here it is very difficult to find and if you do you better be prepared to wait in a line and be limited to the amount you can purchase. On Sunday we were taking Hannah home and the tank was on empty. First gas station we came to was out of gas, so was the second one. We had to keep driving, holding our breath and hoping to find one with gas. We had to drive out of our way to locate one and there was a limit of only 10 gallons. When we arrived in NC we discovered a lot of stations there were also out of gas. Plastic bags cover pump handles everywhere it seems. All of this is being blamed on hurricane Ike, you know, the one that passed thru a few weeks ago. We hear on the news that our gas comes from a refinery in Texas and they can't get the gas to us here. WHAT??? How are they getting it to the rest of the country? And... when we can find gas now the price is higher than it is in NC, something unheard of! It has always been a lot cheaper here. I think there is more going on than we are being told.