County still coping with gas shortage

Ten days after Hurricane Ike knocked out a portion of the nation's refining capacity, the county government is still grappling with a shortage of gasoline and diesel.

The county has less than 3,000 gallons of gas in its fuel tanks, Cherokee County Interim Administrator Ben Clary said Tuesday.

The county has a 10,000- gallon capacity for both gas and diesel.

The county received a shipment of 3,000 gallons of gas but no diesel late last week, Clary said. That came after Clary noted last Wednesday the county had a 4-day supply of gas and enough diesel to operate its trucks for another 10 days.

The crunch has forced county officials to park their take-home vehicles, but hasn't prompted the county to scale back its services.

"We still have enough gas to do our day-to-day operations," he said.

Clary said he's in contact multiple times each day with suppliers, but has yet to firm up the next fuel delivery.

"I'm very optimistic we'll receive a shipment, but I don't expect things to return to normal for another few weeks."

Both the Gaffney Board of Public Works and City of Gaffney have ample supplies of gas and diesel, their spokespersons have said.