Hurricane Ida came ashore in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, making it one of the most powerful in the region’s history. While the storm made landfall west of Georgia, it could have an impact at the gasoline pump here. 

Louisiana is home to several oil refineries with pipelines supplying gasoline to much of the East Coast. As a precaution, Atlanta-based Colonial Pipeline shut down more than 5,000 miles of lines.

Montrae Waiters with AAA urged people not to hoard gas as many did when the pipeline was hacked in May, saying any interruption or fluctuation should be temporary.

"There is no need to panic buy," Waiters said. "Please, please, please do not do that, because you know what happens when people panic buy unnecessarily — it causes a shortage."

The hoard in May caused a temporary shortage in parts of the state for days.

"The Colonial Pipeline took precautionary measures over the weekend, shutting down two main lines," Waiters said. "But, of course, you know, we have one line that's open and gas is flowing through that. So we're okay."

AAA anticipates that gas prices in the state could fluctuate about 3 cents higher because of the storm.

"It's too early to know the full impact or any damage, of course, on the oil and gas industry," she said. "But motorists, motorists regionally can expect the fluctuating leading into Labor Day weekend."

Currently, hundreds of thousands of people are still without power on the Gulf Coast, including nearly the entire city of New Orleans.

Tags: gasoline prices  hurricane  Georgia  Savannah  Macon  Atlanta  colonial pipeline