AAA spokesperson says gas prices should return to normal in coming days

(KYMA, KECY/ NBC News) - AAA says drivers impacted by the Colonial Pipeline shutdown should see prices at the pump return to normal in the coming days.

Last week, gas prices spiked nearly 21 cents per gallon in parts of the southeast. Now that the pipeline is up and running, gas stations are slowly getting refueled.

AAA says fuel prices tend to spike very easily and last week's case was due to "panic buying."

Additionally, it's normal for prices to take a while to go back down.

AAA says there's plenty of gas, and drivers can expect the cost at the pump to continue leveling off in the coming days.

"We definitely think the situation is going to be easy, because the rest of the country did not have a gas crisis," said AAA spokesperson, Andrew Gross. "This was really a situation along the southeast part of the country, and the pipeline's open, so everybody should just relax. We've got about 10 more days before the holiday starts, so there's gonna be plenty of gas at these stations."