NEW YORK (AP) — Motorists have been waiting in gas lines of nearly a mile at those stations in the New York area that still have fuel, and still have the power with which to pump it.
One man waited three hours in line at a station in the Bronx -- only to have the station run out of gas when it was almost his turn. So, he joined a line nearly a mile long at a station in Manhattan.
Another man got in line in his van at 5 a.m. today in Brooklyn -- and by 8 a.m., he was still two dozen cars from the front. He had a half-tank when he started -- and had already used up half of that amount.
The line for gas at that station snaked onto fairly narrow but busy streets, causing some confusion. Some drivers accidentally found themselves in the gas line, and people got out of their cars to yell at them for cutting in.
Long lines also formed in suburban Westchester County as early as 6 a.m. Dozens of cars snaked along the breakdown lane of an expressway, waiting for gas at a rest stop.
Superstorm Sandy damaged ports that accept fuel tankers, and it flooded underground equipment that sends fuel through pipelines. Without power, fuel terminals can't pump gasoline onto tanker trucks, and gas stations can't pump it into cars.
The Port of New York and New Jersey is slowly starting to accept tankers, but some cargo is being diverted to Virginia.
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GRAPHICSBANK: A line forms at a gas pump as people wait to fill up cans at a gas station as many are left without power following Superstorm Sandy, in Toms River, N.J., partial graphic (1 Nov 2012)
APPHOTO NJJC110: People and vehicles line up at a gas station waiting to fill up, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, in Newark, N.J. In parts of New York and New Jersey, drivers lined up early Friday for hours at gas stations that were struggling to stay supplied. The power outages and flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy have forced many gas stations to close and disrupted the flow of fuel from refineries to those stations that are open. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (2 Nov 2012)
<<APPHOTO NJJC110 (11/02/12)>>
APPHOTO NJJC109: People line up at a gas station waiting to fill up, Friday, Nov. 2, 2012, in Newark, N.J. In parts of New York and New Jersey, drivers lined up early Friday for hours at gas stations that were struggling to stay supplied. The power outages and flooding caused by Superstorm Sandy have forced many gas stations to close and disrupted the flow of fuel from refineries to those stations that are open. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) (2 Nov 2012)
<<APPHOTO NJJC109 (11/02/12)>>
