NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Motorists across New Jersey faced a second day of stressful, enormous lines today at the gas stations that still had both electricity and supplies, as power outages kept many pumps out of service and tough travel made fuel deliveries difficult.
A police officer directed traffic at a Gulf station in Newark as a line of vehicles stretched for about two miles. Dozens of people with empty red gas canisters also stood in the line that snaked around the station.
Betty Bethea, 59, had been waiting almost three hours as she approached the front of the line of cars, and she brought reinforcements: Her kids were there with gas cans, and her husband was behind her in his truck.
“It is crazy out here — people scrambling everywhere, cutting in front of people. I have never seen New Jersey like this,” Bethea said.
Two factors are to blame for the shortages and the runs on gas, according to AAA spokeswoman Tracy Noble.
Many stations just can’t pump gas because they lack power, she said. And fuel trucks are having trouble getting around, causing gas shortages in many parts of the state.
