Panic Buying And Gas Shortages Sweep The East Coast

More than a thousand fuel stations in the Southeast have sounded the alarm on gasoline and diesel shortages caused by panic buying and shuttered pipelines, the Associated Press reports, citing analysts. The panic was provoked by the ransomware attack that shut down the Colonial pipeline system at the end of last week, with operations along the network yet to be fully restored.

NPR quoted an AAA spokeswoman as saying gas prices were already rising, as the network remained shut for the fourth day in a row. "They have gone up as high from anywhere…