Kristina hits all of our wallets
And our gas tanks
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
One thing that Hurricane Kristina has done is severly impact the oil recovery and refining facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. One report on MSNBC was predicting an 8% loss of refining capacity for as much as two weeks. That's not even taking into account the loss of production from the wells and rigs that had to be evacuated as a result of the storm. Nor does it take into account the oil platform that decided it would rather rest against the bridge in Mobile harbor than out in the Gulf where it would have to actually work. 
Sure, we've gotten a few clouds, but that's about it. No rain (yet supposed to hit pretty good this evening). No big losses of electricity. No flooding (okay, Richmond! Time to test the "upgraded" sewer system in the Bottom! :))
What does this mean to the rest of us? Not even 36 hours after Kristina started pounding New Orleans, and with the Tropical Depression that still bears that name wandering through the mid-western states, we're already seeing some of the effects here in the Richmond area, some local filling stations have already started raising prices. I've seen jumps of $0.20 in some places. Just up the street from my house, one station jumped $0.35 in a matter of hours. Some of the locals who work in petrol distribution are warning that prices may jump from the $2.50 (avg) to $3.00 here. And that's not taking into account the usual "Let's gouge more out of people on the holiday" price hike that we'll still be seeing this weekend.
Me? I'm going to be seriously thinking about working with my boss and trying to do some work from home over the couple weeks. Oh, and that trip to the beach this weekend (yeah, me - a died in the wool geek who's photosensitive and just doesn't like the way sand gets in the laptop's keyboard - go to the beach. Hah!) is off.
Sure, we've gotten a few clouds, but that's about it. No rain (yet supposed to hit pretty good this evening). No big losses of electricity. No flooding (okay, Richmond! Time to test the "upgraded" sewer system in the Bottom! :))
What does this mean to the rest of us? Not even 36 hours after Kristina started pounding New Orleans, and with the Tropical Depression that still bears that name wandering through the mid-western states, we're already seeing some of the effects here in the Richmond area, some local filling stations have already started raising prices. I've seen jumps of $0.20 in some places. Just up the street from my house, one station jumped $0.35 in a matter of hours. Some of the locals who work in petrol distribution are warning that prices may jump from the $2.50 (avg) to $3.00 here. And that's not taking into account the usual "Let's gouge more out of people on the holiday" price hike that we'll still be seeing this weekend.
Me? I'm going to be seriously thinking about working with my boss and trying to do some work from home over the couple weeks. Oh, and that trip to the beach this weekend (yeah, me - a died in the wool geek who's photosensitive and just doesn't like the way sand gets in the laptop's keyboard - go to the beach. Hah!) is off.
)