It’s been a long and stressful three weeks for Motorists in the Southeast who have been waiting in long lines to fill up their tanks. The fuel supply disruptions sparked by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike earlier this month have forced many who live in places like Nashville, Charlotte and Atlanta to search for the few stations that do have gas. Some reports say lines can be up to three hours long just to get a tank of gas. We are reporting live from the QuikTrip on Sidney Marcus Boulevard in Midtown Atlanta again today.

Station Manager Jay Fuston Doubles as a Traffic Cop at this Atlanta Quiktrip

It’s one of the few stations in the area to have gas. As part of a plan to keep certain stations supplied at all times, the company strategically shut the pumps down at other locations. QuikTrip Spokesperson Mike Thornbrugh told me it made it much easier to keep a select few stations supplied instead of trying to run all their locations at once, which would cause sporadic outages everywhere. When I checked in with Thornbrugh this morning, he offered what might be a light at the end of the tunnel for drivers in the Southeast. Although cautious about calling an end to the crunch for QuikTrip, Thornbrugh says it appears the shortage might begin to ease as supplies slowly return to normal.

Thornbrugh stressed that he could only speak for QuikTrip and did not want to go as far as signaling an end to the problem, but did say things should start getting better by the end of the week. Other sources say it could be as early as five days, but AAA is cautioning drivers that it could be as late as October 13. Either way, it appears gas stations are opening slowly but surely.

Even though there might be a glimmer of hope in the week ahead, the gas shortage is definitely starting to take it’s toll on drivers who are tired of searching for gas and then having to wait in long lines just to get it. Horns occasionally blow in anger and a few arguments have broken out over who is next in line.

The possibility that tempers might flare at the pump has forced QuikTrip Manager Jay Fuston to concentrate more of his time in the store parking lot directing traffic and keeping the peace between customers who are ready to go toe to toe over the next spot in line. More than once, Fuston has refereed shouting matches and settled differences between customers who are growing impatient and angry at times.

Despite a trickle ofgood news and a possible end to the gas crunch soon, drivers are still stressing about being caught on fumes with very few places to fill up. The majority of stations around metro Atlanta are still dry and those that actually do have gas are in high demand with lines twisting down adjacent streets. Atlanta resident Wes Speaks, 28, knows the consequences of waiting until the last minute to fill up when there are long lines.

He was actually just a few cars away from the pump when his SUV sputtered and simply quit. Good samaritans from a moving company helped Speaks push his stalled SUV the remaining few feet to a full tank of gas. “I had to go downtown this morning,” Speaks says. “I couldn’t find gas there, so I decided to come back here where I knew I could get a tank. The ironic thing is that I live right across the street from this gas station.”

28 Year Old Wes Speaks Fills-up After Running Out of Gas While Waiting in Line.

Once again, gas suppliers and authorities are blaming much of the gas shortage problem on customer panic. They say drivers who are rushing to top off tanks that are half full or better and those that are hoarding by filling up gas cans are stressing scarce supplies even more and making the problem worse. They’re asking customers to only get gas when they absolutely need it and not to stockpile gas in fear of running out.

Another warning went out over the weekend to residents who are actually calling 911. Some operators in Georgia say people are dialing 911 in hopes of finding out where to find the nearest gas. Law enforcement officials say 911 operators do not know which stations have gas and that calls to the system should be for emergency situations only. Finding gas, they say, is not an emergency.