Labor Day gas woes thanks to Isaac

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - What was once Hurricane Isaac packed enough power to force oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico to shut down.

And, you probably already know what it means to us, spiking gas prices.

None of the rigs sustained any serious damage, so we saw a slight drop in prices Wednesday.

But, Labor Day weekend is just about here and holiday weekends are notorious for gas price hikes.

Despite the recent rises and falls, AAA predicts some 33-million people will travel this holiday weekend. That is a 3 percent increase from last year.

Driver Ben Bass says he has no choice whether or not to travel. He has to be in Louisville for business, but of it were up to him, he'd just stay home.

"I'm not about to pay that much to go travel, even to go to Cincinnati. I have family there, but I probably wouldn't go to see them if I didn't have business because it's expensive," said Bass.

Experts say it's still unclear when prices come back down.

"As long as there is an impact to the supply, the supply line has been cut because of what's happened in the Gulf of Mexico, you can expect prices to increase because of the decrease in supply," said Cindy Antrican, AAA.

Cindy Antrican with AAA says about 25 percent of the oil rigs in the Gulf were evacuated as Hurricane Isaac approached land.

As a result, pump prices spiked, but not before vacation plans were already finalized and that's why she says Labor Day travel will remain relatively unaffected.

"They may make adjustments in other areas, so instead of going to a nicer restaurant for lunch, maybe they will go to McDonalds and as far as sightseeing goes, instead of doing three things, they'll only do two. They will travel as they had planned with very little change in their plans," said Antrican.

But, if you are taking a trip that involves flying or a cruise, Antrican warns you need to make sure the airlines and cruise lines are running a planned.

Some ports have been shut down, and planes are delayed because of the storm.