‘New Orleans is here.’ Louisianians come to MS Coast to get gas after Hurricane Ida
More than half the gas stations in New Orleans and Baton Rouge don’t have fuel — or power to operate the pumps — following Hurricane Ida and drivers are heading to South Mississippi to fuel up.
At a Shell gas station near Interstate 10 and Highway 49 in Gulfport, the line of cars with Louisiana license plates looped around the building. Harrison County Sheriff’s deputies directed drivers toward pumps as the parking lot filled with a chorus of Cajun and New Orleans accents.
“Thank you for allowing us in your city,” said Melonie Pichon. “The support, the help — it’s amazing.”
Pichon and her father, 81-year-old Walter Moorehead, had driven from Marrero to pick up fuel to deliver to senior citizens who are relying on generator power for air conditioning and medical equipment.
They were among the many Louisianans who had come to Gulfport to pick up gas not only for themselves, but for families and community members.
Three crabbers from Chalmette — Dustin Grose, Brandon Taylor and Hank Doherty — had tried four or five exits in Mississippi before they finally found a gas station with a reasonable line, only 15-20 minutes instead of three hours. The men were buying $380 worth of gas, or 130 gallons, which they pumped into blue plastic drums on the back of a pickup truck.
They estimated their generators burn 20 gallons a day.
“My gas will last about five days,” said Doherty. “Then I’ll be back on the hunt.”
Where is the gas?
GasBuddy is providing an updated list of fuel outages in Louisiana after the hurricane devastated the state over the weekend. At noon Wednesday, 58% of the gas stations in the New Orleans were without gas and 28% without diesel.
It was equally difficult to find gas in Baton Rouge, where 54% of the stations didn’t have gasoline and 29% were without diesel.
The GasBuddy app also provides information about what gas stations are open in Louisiana and Mississippi and and the price per gallon.
Traffic has been heavy in both directions on I-10 in Hancock County and across much of South Mississippi,the Mississippi Department of Transportation reported Wednesday afternoon.
Those going west are returning home to Louisiana after evacuating over the weekend for Hurricane Ida.
Those coming east into Mississippi are looking for gas to fuel their generators that are the only power in their homes. They also are searching for groceries, hotel rooms or rentals where they can stay and work remotely for the next 30 days or longer, until power is restored in New Orleans.
A ‘forced vacation’ in Gulfport
On Wednesday afternoon, two young boys played Roblox on the computers in the lobby of the Holiday Inn on U.S. 49. They were from Louisiana, they said, and glad to be out of school.
Joyce and Earnest Smith thought they might be able to stay in their Slidell home after Ida passed through. But they quickly realized that without power, and no breeze in the dog days of summer, their house was nearly unbearable. Earnest couldn’t sleep. Joyce said they needed to leave.
On Tuesday, they drove over to Gulfport to scout out hotels. The couple are Priority Club Members of the Holiday Inn, and the location on U.S. 49 was the first place they tried. They were glad to learn rooms were available the next day.
By a little after 3 p.m. Wednesday, they were sitting in the lobby with two suitcases, waiting for their room and ready for what Earnest called “a forced vacation.” They planned to stay until they get power back at home, which they expect could take three weeks.
“The Lord knows when to slow you down,” Joyce said. “No complaints. We’re still alive.”
‘New Orleans is here’
“We are seeing significant increases in our neighbors to the west, our friends from Louisiana coming over and getting gasoline,” Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday. This is causing excess traffic in South Mississippi and longer lines for fuel, he said, “so I encourage everyone to be patient.”
Waveland Mayor Mike Smith said he became aware Monday of the flood of neighbors from New Orleans flooding into his city and South Mississippi.
He got calls about the traffic on on U.S. 90, the lines at the gas stations and the lack of food in the stores, he said.
On Tuesday, Gulfport Councilwoman Ella Holmes-Hines surveyed the traffic on U.S. 49, the gas station lines and the crowded hotel parking lots.
“New Orleans is here,” she said.
Rouses Market has communicated with customers on Facebook to let them know which stores are open throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.
All three South Mississippi stores at Diamondhead, Gulfport and Ocean Springs are open.
In Louisiana, some stores are open at limited capacity with limited staffing,” the latest post says. “We have additional trucks on the way with more supplies like water, ice and bread.”
Gas is pumping at same price in MS
The Chevron refinery facilities in Pascagoula and Collins are back in operation, Reeves reported Wednesday.
Gasoline prices have remained steady during the hurricane, and Mississippi continues to have the lowest price in the nation.
The price of a gallon of regular gas in South Mississippi averaged $2.75 on Aug. 23, a week before the hurricane, according to AAA. The price across the area dropped a penny on Monday as Hurricane Ida continued to dump rain on the area ans still averaged $2.74 on Wednesday.
In the New Orleans area, regular gas averaged $2.80 on Wednesday.
“Gas price analysts were already expecting a three to five cent increase in fuel prices heading into Labor Day weekend due to increased demand,” said AAA spokesperson Nick Chabarria. “With Hurricane Ida shuttering 96% of oil production in the Gulf Coast region, lower fuel production means short-term price increases could be more substantial.”
Coast pumping in help
Smith said he called the county Emergency Management Office to see about getting fuel help in Waveland. He reached out to the mayor’s office in New Orleans and officials in St. Tammany Parish, he said.
“If they need help from us, from Mississippi, let’s try getting them some help,” he said
“We in Mississippi need to remember how our friends in Louisiana helped us in our time of need — and always do,” he said, referring to Hurricane Katrina.
All Coast mayors are in talks right now of a collaborative effort — a “One Coast” effort if you will — to help Louisiana, Smith said.
A Metairie man gave a straightforward explanation as to why he’d come to the Shell station in Gulfport just off I-10.
“Come get fuel,” he said. “Stay alive.”
The man and his wife declined to give their names, because they hope to leave their home soon and don’t want to advertise that it’s empty in a city where public services are straining to function with no electricity.
Ida took their roof. The whole area looked like “a war zone,” the woman said.
“Send some help to Metairie,” she said. “There’s no food. No help in Metairie. We don’t have any resources yet.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 6:03 PM.
