Today I visited a covenience store here in town and was astonished by the number of people waiting in line for fuel. I overheard the cashier (of whom I know) telling another customer about a man who had filled over half a dozen gas cans a while earlier.

At my turn to check out, I asked Mike what the heck was going on because yesterday in visiting with him, his fuel sales were just a tad above normal. He said he has no idea what is happening (is DWGI) today but his fuel sales have been out the roof. People filling cans and multiple vehicles. Mike, BTW, is a DWGI and thinks this is bunk.

Taking that info, I headed across town to another store. Cashier says sales have been almost overwhelming on fuel. She says it has been non-stop and bumper to bumper. She too doesn't understand why. She remarks that there must be a lot of people traveling for some reason.

Buddy called me a few minutes ago. States he went to another station yet and the clerk was grouchy because his gas sales were non-stop and driving him up the wall. Buddy also sales the grocer he visited today was selling water for 99 cents a gallon and people were hauling basket loads of the stuff.

Honestly, I didn't think I would see this kind of reaction here in this town but today was an eye opener for me. I figured the bigger towns and cities would see this, but not here. Reality has come home.

Tomorrow should be even more interesting. I am going "scouting" in the stores just to check the buying patterns. Anyway, just curious about your areas so if you have similar, I would like to hear from you.

-- Rob (maxovrdrv51@hotmail.com), December 29, 1999

Answers

Nothing unusual here in NE Oregon...Walmart and grocery stores have plenty of water. No lines for fuel. ATM has plenty of cash.

-- morgan (bitbybit@eoni.com), December 29, 1999.

No lines at the pumps in Eastern Washington/Northern Idaho

-- (RUOK@yesiam.com), December 29, 1999.

nothing unusual here in east Texas yet

-- Iam (ready@prep.com), December 29, 1999.

Price for 87 oct was 1.25 yesterday in Battle Creek MI, now it's 1.34...this afternoon, anywayz. No lines at the shell station though. On the road alot...saw gas in the buck 30's in Kalamazoo. Staying out of Grand Rapids for a while.

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), December 29, 1999.

Herd is stirring here in Central Ohio:

* Two gas stations were completely filled (short lines) with people filling up. I personally saw more than a few 5 gallon gas cans being filled.

* Water shelves are completely BARREN at the local Wal-Mart and I saw more than a few people in line stockpiling (cases of canned food, crackers, definitely NOT typical New Years party fare).

* Water was going fast at the local Krogers too. Also saw more than a few people stockpiling with non-typical party fare food, such as cases of canned foods, etc...

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), December 30, 1999.

Nothing to report here in Iowa...but then again, we don't expect to get to the year 2000 until the rest of you are at 2003 or so...;)

-- Ken (kjackso@max.state.ia.us), December 30, 1999.

South Jersey. Yesterday filled up with gasoline. Attendant said "everyone's filling up, no 'give me $5.00 or give me $10.00 worth'." Lots of people stocking up on his kerosene as well. But, KMart was very slow today... no signs of any rush. SP

-- Southern Partisan (glf_redeemed@hotmail.com), December 30, 1999.

I just returned from the small town on the Texas Gulf Coast that I'm closest to. The only significant grocery store was packed. Bigger crowds than any normal weekend. Signs on the shelves said that to unusually high demand, water may not always be available. It was about 2/3rds gone.

Most people checking out had a gallon or two. It looked to me like they were preparing for the three-day storm, just like they've been programmed to do. Lines for gasoline were about two cars deep for each pump. Unusually heavy, but certainly not panic material.

One lady in the checkout line at the store whispered to me, "You know what this is for, don't you?" People have been shamed into not preparing adequately, in my opinion.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), December 30, 1999.

Fuel prices up an average of 9 cents here (central Michigan) overnight. No lines for it though, let alone long ones.

Water still plentiful in stores but selling at good pace. Meijers has greatly expanded the display space for water but doesn't seem to be raising the price much if at all. (I don't buy water - we have our own well, so I'm not sure on the normal price.)

-- Gus (y2kk@usa.net), December 30, 1999.

Not a lot in the NW Detroit area (Farmington Hills). Kroger is moving 2.5 gal. water jugs, people are buying one or two (gotta be ready for the worst, you know!). No price increases.

The gas stations seem to be fairly quiet.

-- Gary S. (garys_2k@yahoo.com), December 30, 1999.