Free gas being distributed in New York City by the Department of Defense
People wait in line to fill containers with fuel at a Shell gas station October 30, 2012 in Edison, New Jersey. Hurricane Sandy which hit New York and New Jersey left much of Bergen County flooded and without power. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI
Free gas will be available to those in need in the New York metro area by Saturday afternoon, thanks to the Department of Defense.
The US military is loaning the New York and New Jersey areas up to 22 million gallons of fuel, Reuters reported, and is setting up five mobile fuel stations in New York and Long Island to help ease the fuel shortage panic caused by Hurricane Sandy.
The stations have a 10 gallon limit per vehicle, NBC News reported.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that 8 million gallons of gas have already been distributed throughout the state, and that another 28 million gallons was en route, the Associated Press reported.
"Do not panic," Cuomo said at a briefing, according to ABC News. "I know there is anxiety about fuel….The situation has been remedied."
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Government officials have been trying to quell the anxiety. On Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano waived the Jones Act, allowing international fuel tankers to carry fuel from other US ports to stricken areas in the Northeast, the Wall Street Journal reported. Also Friday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed an executive order to ration gas in 12 of the state's counties, according to NBC News.
However, experts say the problem is not a shortage of fuel, but a lack of electricity, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
"There is no gasoline supply shortage," said Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline-C-Store-Automotive Association. "This is a delivery shortage. You get back electricity, and a large part of this goes away."
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