Southern gas prices soar as Hurricane Ike approaches

ATLANTA (CNN) - Gas prices soared across the Southeast Friday night as Hurricane Ike neared landfall in Texas, with some stations in metro Atlanta running dry and others sporting long lines as consumers queued for fill-ups.

Prices for a gallon of regular gas jumped at one metro Atlanta station from $3.59 to $4.95 in just a few hours. Another Atlanta discount gas station Friday increased the price for a gallon of regular to $4.09 from Thursday's price of $3.69.

In Florida, Governor's Charlie Crist, in a statement, cited "unconscionable" prices for gasoline in excess of $5 a gallon and threatened legal action against price gouging retailers. The governors of Alabama and Georgia also enacted those states' price-gouging laws.