As of this morning 6.5% of Virginia gas stations have run out of fuel. This is a result of Colonial Pipeline shutting down operations due to a cyberattack on their digital infrastructure. Colonial Pipeline supplies gasoline to the eastern states from Texas to New York.

In my small town of Culpeper, Virginia (population 20,000), several stations are completely out of gasoline and diesel fuel is almost non-existent. Lines have formed at the remaining gas stations which will surely deplete what gasoline we have left.

The best shot of finding gasoline today and the coming days will be westward towards the Blue Ridge Mountains and beyond. 3 hours to the west is West Virginia which is not serviced by the Costal Pipeline. People may need to curtail their travel plans to conserve fuel and store-up gasoline if possible.

This crisis illuminates the need for companies to have contingency plans in place and better cyber security. For the average person it once again illustrates the need to be prepared for natural and man-made disasters.