Prices are rising as a result of the shutdown, but gas prices in North Carolina and South Carolina remain below the national average. According to GasBuddy, the average price for a gallon of gas in Charlotte is $2.79, while the national average is coming in at $2.97.

A spokesperson for AAA of the Carolinas cautioned against panicking and filling up your gas tank unnecessarily.

“We are our own worst enemy,” Tiffany Wright said. “When it comes to these things, we talk about the bread and the milk and people going out during the pandemic, it was the toilet paper. It’s a knee-jerk reaction we go and we panic and we overconsume.”

Wright said the Carolinas are being hit especially hard because the mountains and the beaches are prime vacation destinations this time of year.

“You have an influx of traffic, you have more motorists on the road, you have a higher demand, add to that you have people overconsuming at the pump and you have the perfect storm for prices to go higher,” Wright said.