There are plenty of alternative ways of reducing the amount of fuel one would need. Also, probably a lot of them didn't even have the containers for the fuel on hand. They didn't need to store all that fuel, but having the ability to do so would have been smart.
I would imagine a lot of this fuel is going to feed generators. One could reduce the items that need a generator, no TVs and other nonessential items. Battery powered radio work for news. Have a store of food that doesn't require refrigeration, and cook with propane. They could eat all the stuff that would go bad while the had fuel and rely on the other stuff later.
What am I saying, this is just basic preppier talk. All those people standing in line are dump asses.