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Frustration boils over in Ascension as gas shortages cause 3-hour wait for some
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DUTCHTOWN - Frustration spilled over Tuesday off Highway 73 as long lines stretched from the only gas stations that drivers could find open.
"I've been waiting three hours," Randy Clement said.
"Two hours and 20 minutes," Josephine Mendoza said.
As they waited patiently for gas, others began cutting the line.
"I've been waiting 20 minutes," one lady who cut the line said. "It should be this way. They should make two lines, not just one line."
The frustration reached a breaking point as drivers exited their cars and confronted them.
"My dad is bedridden," one person who was waiting said. "He has no running water. No fuel, no water, no ice, nothing... bedridden. And my brother is flooding in Maurepas. She can walk. My dad can't. That has nothing to do with being kind and respectful. I went over there and said to them, this is the line. They said, 'sorry this is a shortcut, and this is the line I'm going to be in' and stood their ground."
For many people who were waiting, they were forced to find stations that had gas to power their generators. Randy Clement said he needs his generators to work to have running water at his home. His house is connected to a well.
"Without power, we can't flush toilets," Clement said.
Along with the demand for gas, Ascension is also dealing with even more damage that came to light Tuesday. Several power lines and poles remain covering roads across the parish. Some rooftops were blown bare to the decking.
As everyone hopes for cooler heads to prevail, a sign of good news emerged Tuesday. Some places began getting electricity back in the Prairieville area, which will allow more businesses to reopen.
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