Upstate drivers should be able to find fuel available at one out of every two gas stations by Friday, according to a spokesman for AAA Carolinas.

AAA Fuel Gauge reports drivers in the Upstate are paying just below the record high price for regular gas following Hurricane Ike’s damage along the Gulf coast.

Damage to the oil industry from Ike wasn’t as bad as feared. Oil is trading below $96 Monday, but prices at the pump in the Carolinas are on the rise.

Tropical Storm Ike is just barely a storm as it heads up through northeastern Texas into Arkansas, with top sustained winds of about 40 miles-per-hour. Two miles-an-hour less and it becomes a depression.

The National Hurricane Center’s latest forecast track has the Category 2 storm making landfall in Texas late Friday or early Saturday.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from west of Key West to the Dry Tortugas.

Ike will emerge into the Gulf of Mexico in a matter of hours.

Ike is expected to emerge into the Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday night.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says an “extremely dangerous” Hurricane Ike has damaged 80 percent of the homes on Grand Turk island.
Ike, a category 4 hurricane, has moved on to Haiti.  Ike has winds of 135 mph as of the lastest advisory at 8 AM Sunday, with higher gusts.

Tropical Storm Hanna sets sight on the East Coast.