Colonial Pipeline on Wednesday announced that the Georgia company was restarting pipeline operations as of 5 p.m., but that it would take several days for the supply of gas to return to normal.
The resumption comes after Russian hackers on Friday shut down the pipeline, sparking a driver panic that resulted in stations across the eastern U.S. running short on supply.
Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday called on the public to remain calm and not buy unneeded gas. Ivey said the state was not experiencing a gas shortage due to the pipeline shutdown.
According to user-reported data on the Gasbuddy app, approximately 8 percent of stations across Alabama were without gas Wednesday afternoon. The situation was much worse in other states. In South Carolina, on Wednesday about 48 percent of stations were without gas, and in North Carolina, 69 percent had no gas.
The Colonial Pipeline is one of the U.S.’s most important pipelines, delivering fuel to states from Texas to New York. Governors in Virginia, Florida, North Carolina and Georgia had all declared states of emergency, which allowed them to take steps to mitigate the supply problem.
