'Panic buying' sparks gas shortages in Florida - and it's likely to get worse

Florida residents racing to get out of Hurricane Irma's destructive path have encountered a serious obstacle: gasoline shortages.

At least 40% of gas stations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale region are without fuel, according to estimates from crowdsourcing platform GasBuddy.

About one-third of the gas stations in the West Palm Beach and the Fort Myers-Naples regions are in the same position. Central population centers like Tampa are also being affected, as well as the northern Gainesville region, GasBuddy numbers show.

The shortages have been sparked by a powerful one-two punch to the nation's energy infrastructure: huge demand from residents fleeing highly-populated regions and refinery disruptions caused by Hurricane Harvey.

"It's like the church on Easter Sunday getting a tornado warning," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

Kloza predicted gas shortages will worsen in the coming days as Hurricane Irma -- a massive Category 5 storm -- as "panic buying" continues and gasoline deliveries are blocked by Florida port shutdowns.



Read more - http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/news/economy/gas-shortages-florida-irma/index.html?sr=fbCNN090717economy0133PMVODtopLink

'Panic buying' sparks gas shortages in Florida - and it's likely to get worse

Florida residents racing to get out of Hurricane Irma's destructive path have encountered a serious obstacle: gasoline shortages.

At least 40% of gas stations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale region are without fuel, according to estimates from crowdsourcing platform GasBuddy.

About one-third of the gas stations in the West Palm Beach and the Fort Myers-Naples regions are in the same position. Central population centers like Tampa are also being affected, as well as the northern Gainesville region, GasBuddy numbers show.

The shortages have been sparked by a powerful one-two punch to the nation's energy infrastructure: huge demand from residents fleeing highly-populated regions and refinery disruptions caused by Hurricane Harvey.

"It's like the church on Easter Sunday getting a tornado warning," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

Kloza predicted gas shortages will worsen in the coming days as Hurricane Irma -- a massive Category 5 storm -- as "panic buying" continues and gasoline deliveries are blocked by Florida port shutdowns.

Read more - http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/news/economy/gas-shortages-florida-irma/index.html?sr=fbCNN090717economy0133PMVODtopLink

ANOTHER !!! STORM "KATIA" RAPIDLY FORMS OFF MEXICO

Tropical Storm Katia formed early Wednesday morning (Sept. 6) in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said the storm is expected to stay off the coast of Mexico through Friday morning.

As of 4 a.m., Tropical Storm Katia was 105 miles east of Tampico, Mexico, and was moving southeast at 2 mph. Forecasters said the storm is expected to turn southeast within 24 hours and continue moving in that direction through Thursday. Forecasters expect it to turn southwest on Friday and make landfall in Mexico over the weekend. (latest track)

Read more - http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2017/09/tropical_storm_katia_gulf_mexi.html

ANOTHER !!! STORM "KATIA" RAPIDLY FORMS OFF MEXICO

Tropical Storm Katia formed early Wednesday morning (Sept. 6) in the southern Gulf of Mexico. Forecasters with the National Hurricane Center said the storm is expected to stay off the coast of Mexico through Friday morning.

As of 4 a.m., Tropical Storm Katia was 105 miles east of Tampico, Mexico, and was moving southeast at 2 mph. Forecasters said the storm is expected to turn southeast within 24 hours and continue moving in that direction through Thursday. Forecasters expect it to turn southwest on Friday and make landfall in Mexico over the weekend. (latest track)

Read more - http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2017/09/tropical_storm_katia_gulf_mexi.html

JEWS WANT MUSLIMS BANNED FROM TEMPLE MOUNT DURING SUKKOT (FEAST OF TENTS)

'If Jews are banned from Temple Mount during Muslim festival, why aren't Muslims banned during Jewish holiday?'

A group of Temple Mount activists have called on the government to close the Temple Mount to Muslims during the upcoming Sukkot festival, after Jews were barred from the site during a recent Muslim holiday.

The Students for the Temple Mount movement issued a statement Sunday, blasting the ban on Jewish visitation of the Temple Mount during the Eid al-Adha festival. Activists say no prior warning was given for the ban, and Jews seeking to ascend the Mount were simply denied access.

“It is outrageous for the authorities to close the Mount during every single Muslim holiday or festival,” the statement read. “As it is, the Mount is closed to Jews on Friday and Saturday, and even during the rest of the week it’s only open to Jews for four hours a day; now the police have decided to close the Mount on additional days whenever they want?”

“What was really disgusting about this whole situation is that the Israeli Police didn’t even bother to tell all of the people who wished to visit the Mount that it would be closed for the four days from Friday to Monday, so that people took the trouble to come to the entrance of the Mount, only to find it locked, with no note left by police at the gate. This is abuse for its own sake, intentionally hurting people who visit the Temple Mount and trampling their rights.”

Activists say that when they contacted the police department’s Temple Mount unit, they were told that the site was open to all visitors on Sunday – when it in fact was closed to non-Muslims. When activists called again later, the unit changed its response, acknowledging that non-Muslims would not be permitted to enter the site.

read more - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/234984

JEWS WANT MUSLIMS BANNED FROM TEMPLE MOUNT DURING SUKKOT (FEAST OF TENTS)

'If Jews are banned from Temple Mount during Muslim festival, why aren't Muslims banned during Jewish holiday?'

A group of Temple Mount activists have called on the government to close the Temple Mount to Muslims during the upcoming Sukkot festival, after Jews were barred from the site during a recent Muslim holiday.

The Students for the Temple Mount movement issued a statement Sunday, blasting the ban on Jewish visitation of the Temple Mount during the Eid al-Adha festival. Activists say no prior warning was given for the ban, and Jews seeking to ascend the Mount were simply denied access.

“It is outrageous for the authorities to close the Mount during every single Muslim holiday or festival,” the statement read. “As it is, the Mount is closed to Jews on Friday and Saturday, and even during the rest of the week it’s only open to Jews for four hours a day; now the police have decided to close the Mount on additional days whenever they want?”

“What was really disgusting about this whole situation is that the Israeli Police didn’t even bother to tell all of the people who wished to visit the Mount that it would be closed for the four days from Friday to Monday, so that people took the trouble to come to the entrance of the Mount, only to find it locked, with no note left by police at the gate. This is abuse for its own sake, intentionally hurting people who visit the Temple Mount and trampling their rights.”

Activists say that when they contacted the police department’s Temple Mount unit, they were told that the site was open to all visitors on Sunday – when it in fact was closed to non-Muslims. When activists called again later, the unit changed its response, acknowledging that non-Muslims would not be permitted to enter the site.

read more - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/234984

UNUSUAL LARGE "RED ALERT" 5.3 EARTHQUAKE STRIKES IDAHO

Magnitude 5.3
Depth 17km
East of Soda Springs, Idaho