The reason the stations were pumped dry is that the government won't let them raise prices. Limited supply means high prices in the free market. If they were allowed to raise prices, people are sure to buy only what they absolutely need, making it go around a lot farther.
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They raised prices anyways. Local gas stations were charging upwards of $4-8 per gallon. Texas govt had somewhere around 500 complaints of price gouging
See? The higher prices makes an incentive to bring in more gasoline that people need. The price spikes because of an intense increase of local demand. The higher price helps motivate people to move in more gasoline to meet that demand. When the demand falls back to normal, the prices drop back to normal. Keeping the price abnormally low will only ensure shortages. There is no incentive to try harder to bring in gasoline.