- Some New York, New Jersey residents waited over four hours to fill up cars, gas cans
- Demand is high after Superstorm Sandy knocked out mass transit, power
- Some are filling up cars, others fueling generators for electricity
- Those with mobile devices used Twitter for real-time information on gas lines
(CNN) -- In Brooklyn, a woman pushed a small grocery cart with a single bag inside. In it, a precious possession shielded from prying eyes: a red can filled with gasoline.
In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, gasoline might as well be gold.
"It has become a hot commodity, so we didn't want to risk it," she said.
With lines snaking for blocks -- miles, even -- outside gas stations in New York and New Jersey, tensions occasionally flared as people waited for the chance to to pump gas into cars or gas cans.
"The situation is hectic," said Terry Landers, a CNN iReporter in Lebanon, New Jersey. "Many gas stations are either out of gas or (will be) soon."
The demand is high, and the fuel isn't just for empty car tanks. Many people still have no electricity and are using gasoline-powered generators, adding to the demand.
"As word spreads that somewhere has gas, there are (lines of) cars as long or longer than the one in my video," Landers said.
Long gas lines in Northeast after Sandy Mariangel Javier, who is nine months pregnant, said she had been waiting for over five hours to fill up at a gas station in Union City, New Jersey.
She had used what little gas she had left to drive to her last doctor's appointment.
"But I didn't find out until I got there that they didn't have power either, so now I need gas to get back home," she said.
The gas station's manager, Favhan Javed, has been working day and night alongside his staff to keep the station running and was confident that Javier would be able to fill up.
"I even stay until after midnight for my friends who are taxi and limousine drivers because they have to feed their families, too," he said.
For the most part, people have remained remarkably cool. As a precaution, police are helping to keep the lines in order at some gas stations.
In other areas, there was a sense of organized chaos that sometimes veered more toward disorder.
At a station in Queens, New York, police arrested a man early Thursday after he cut in line and then pulled out a gun when he was challenged by other residents.
Sandy roared ashore Monday night, knocking out power to millions of people, and flooding mass transit systems across the Northeast. Three days later, more than 1 million people in New York and 1.4 million in New Jersey are still without power.
The demand for gasoline is only going to rise, with New York's subway system still out of commission -- meaning more people are forced to travel by car -- and a forecast of cold weather for New York and New Jersey this weekend.
Most major gas station chains, from ExxonMobil to Hess, were experiencing disruptions. In fact, some 60% of gas stations tracked by AAA in New Jersey were not operational, according to the motorist group. In New York's Long Island, that figure was 65%.
Economic impact of gas shortages
CNN's Christine Romans explained that a lot of the closed gas stations simply don't have electricity to operate their pumps, while others cannot get gasoline delivered to the station from the refinery because of blocked roads or other logistical problems created by the storm.
And there doesn't seem to be any relief in sight: gas shortages could stretch "though the weekend and into the next," according to Matt Smith, an analyst for Summit Energy.
To cope with the overwhelming demand, some stations limited their services to emergency vehicles only. Other stations only provided gas for people's gas cans, and not their cars. Many gas stations set limits to how much gas each person could pump: maybe $20, or maybe $50.
Desperate residents -- who at least had enough power to charge their mobile devices -- used social media to try to avoid long lines or empty gas stations.
Twitter users in New Jersey created the hashtags #njgas and #njopen to provide real-time information on open gas stations, the length of the line, and any restrictions.
"Bp gas on French street near jersey ave in New Brunswick is open and line is less than 30 minutes," tweeted @johnnymatson.
"This guy turned a blocked driveway into a business opp for those of us in line for gas," tweeted @AmyMJ2, along with an Instagram picture of a man smiling behind a table with two coffee dispensers.
Some Twitter messages revealed that red gas cans were quickly becoming just as scarce as gasoline itself.
Others offered some humorous perspective on the situation: Charles Leone, offered this: "Some perspective. The NYC marathon winner will run the marathon in less time than the average (gas) lines."
CNN's Susan Candiotti, Aaron Smith and Cindy Rodriguez contributed to this report.
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