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Fuel line bust in Alabama being felt locally

Posted at 12:32 PM, Sep 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-20 13:05:45-04

HAMPTON, Va. - Drivers in Hampton Roads headed to the pump bright and early Monday morning after hearing the reports of a potential gas shortage or price hike.

Both North Carolina and Virginia are now in states of emergency after a major gas leak in Alabama.

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Colonial Pipeline, a fuel line stretching from Texas to New York had a fuel eruption, losing over 300 thousand of gallons of gas through an underground pipe in Central Alabama.

The spill was discovered on August 9 and since then the pipe has been shut down. The effects are making their way up the East Coast. Several gas stations in North Carolina were shut down because they had no gas to fuel customers cars.

Virginia drivers are seeing a price increase but many are trying to get ahead of the problem by fueling up early and often.

Michael St. George is a plumber who uses his truck for work. He told News 3 he has seen the news reports and did not want to be stuck without fuel. "The gas prices are going to go up. A lot of places are running out of gas completely. I seen the lines of people saying its gauging and everything else; I figured I'd better fill up now," said St. George.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe said they are hoping to avoid a price hike but gas prices could increase up to 15 cents per gallon.

Related: Six states declare state of emergency over gas shortages