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Harvey Causes Gas Prices To Rise In Tennessee

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Tennessee has felt the impact of Hurricane Harvey as gas prices increase to prices that haven't been seen since 2015.

With the high winds and so much rain, it was expected that Harvey would impact the gas and oil industry in the United States -- and before the hurricane even arrived, about 20 percent of refineries and drilling rigs near the Texas coast were evacuated.

Because of that, less fuel is being pumped through the Colonial pipeline to Tennessee and the east coast, leading to increases at the pumps.

"Some of the refineries are still working, so we're still getting gasoline, they're still coming through the pipelines, it's just, it's intermitted, so it's not the same supply that we're used to," said AAA Tennessee Regional Director Glenn McLendon.

AAA predicted that gas prices would increase another 5 to 10 cents over the next few days leading into the Labor Day weekend.

"You're really seeing the effects of Harvey and the holiday put together," said McLendon.

While gas prices will go up, AAA said there's no need to panic or conserve gas -- there is no significant gas shortage expected due to this storm.

"No need to run out and stock up or fill up  just do what you normally do," McLendon said.

AAA officials expected it would take a few weeks for gas prices to get back to normal as Texas begins to recover.