UPDATED: Ida deals double blow to region's gasoline supplies

Tri-City area residents waited in lines for gasoline this week, when they could get it, because Hurricane Ida dealt the fuel supply chain a one-two punch.

The hurricane shut down a significant portion of Louisiana's refinery capacity while increasing demand at key points. East St. Mary turned out to be one of those points.

The results have included gasoline shortages, long lines at stations that have gas, and occasionally frayed tempers.

St. Mary Sheriff's Office Patrol Commander Capt. Mat Moore said Friday afternoon that crashes at and around gas stations on the east side of the parish are happening as well as disturbances.
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Moore added that other area agencies are reporting that they have had the same situations in their areas as well.
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Sheriff Blaise Smith would like to ask the public to exercise extreme caution and slow down when driving where there are lines of cars at gas stations.
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"We have several close calls that have been captured on our dash cameras," Smith said in a press release. "Please use caution in these congested areas and slow down to prevent crashes."
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Smith said that the frustration with the post-hurricane situations is understandable, but we should try to be patient with others during this time.

Hurricane Ida hit at both the gasoline supply and the demand.

On the supply side, Ida's landfall Sunday near Port Fourchon struck at one of the largest concentrations of refinery capacity in the country.

Louisiana’s 17 oil refineries account for nearly one-fifth of the nation’s refining capacity and can process about 3.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Early in the week, the U.S. Department of Energy reported that the storm shut down production at nine Louisiana refineries, not least because they require electricity that was no longer available because of the storm. Damage assessments are still underway.

Media sources quoting state regulators say fewer refineries were put offline by Ida. Best case: The state lost more than a quarter of its refining capacity.

The department also said Ida halted more than 90% of Gulf offshore energy production, although that shortfall required more time to make itself felt in the supply chain.

When reliable electricity returned Monday to east St. Mary, Morgan City, Berwick and Patterson became re-supply points between the area where Ida did the most damage and the areas where evacuees took refuge.

Returning evacuees from the west created long lines at times this week on eastbound U.S. 90, waiting to cross the new bridge, which is still reduced to one lane in either direction for maintenance work.

For many, St. Mary was the last stop for gas, restaurants and groceries before heading into Assumption Parish and points east, where blackouts have lasted longer and the storm damage was more severe.

At the same time, residents of those affected areas came west to St. Mary to stock up on gas and groceries.

One result was gas lines, sometimes extending along westbound U.S. 90 before winding around on station parking lots.

The lines added to the burden on local police officers, some of whom were stationed to keep traffic moving safely and to keep order at stations where lines developed. Many officers had been working double shifts since Saturday because of the storm.

Social media created a new pastime: gas-spotting. Posters swap information about which stations have gas. Often, they reported that stations were on E.

St. Mary isn't alone. Gasbuddy.com reported Friday morning that 71% of stations in Baton Rouge, 66% in New Orleans and 49% in Lafayette were out of fuel.