Several states declare emergency over Colonial Pipeline shutdown amid fuel shortages

Rebecca Falconer
·2 min read

Reports of fuel shortages across the U.S. emerged on Tuesday as the national average for gasoline prices soared to its highest level since 2014 amid a key fuel pipeline shut down, per Bloomberg.

What's happening: Operator Colonial Pipeline aims to have service restored by the week's end following last Friday's ransomware attack that shut down some 5,500 miles of pipeline from Texas to New Jersey. The governors of Florida, Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina declared states of emergency Tuesday due to shortage concerns.

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Vehicles line up to get fuel at a Sunoco gas station in Sumter, South Carolina, on May 11. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a regional emergency declaration on May 9 for 17 states and D.C., to keep fuel supply lines open. Photo: Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Signs about limiting gas purchases displayed at a Marathon gas station in Smyrna May 11. Colonial said in a statement Tuesday it started a segment of the pipeline and delivered some 41 million gallons of fuel to locations including in the Carolinas, Georgia and New Jersey. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images

Cars line up at a COSTCO at Tyvola Road in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 11. There have been reports of panic-buying across the country. Photo: Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images

A "fuel out" sign posted on an entrance at a Marathon gas station in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, on May 10. Photo: Andrew Sherman/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Cars line up at a QuickTrip in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 11. Photo: Megan Varner/Getty Images

Cars line up at a Chevron Corp. gas station in San Francisco, California, on March 11. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include governors' emergency declarations and with more photos.

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