Atlanta’s Fuel Crisis Sparks Hunt for Increasingly Rare Supply

  • Almost two-thirds of city’s gas stations were dry, running low
  • Search for fuel expands far outside region reliant on pipeline
An employee guides drivers waiting in line to refuel vehicles at a Costco Wholesale Corp. gas station in Dunwoody, Georgia on May 12.Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg
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Atlanta residents abandoned daily routines and faced the prospect of canceling days worth of errands to hunt down an increasingly scarce necessity -- gasoline.

Five days after a criminal hack shut down deliveries of almost half the gasoline and diesel burned in the eastern U.S., the Atlanta area’s reserves of gas and diesel began to plummet. Motorists in the car-loving city faced two choices: park the car and conserve whatever fuel it already holds, or burn that gas by driving around in a search for an open pump.