I'm not arguing against your point, I'm really asking. If today's price is based upon the price of the futures purchased in the past, why will the price spike immediately to an event or disaster? The answer I always heard was the gas stations need to start collecting money to pay for that next more expensive shipment. Shouldn't the next few shipments be normal prices since the futures were purchased a time back before the disaster/event happened?

It definitely seems like a one way street where prices are quick to rise, but take a long time to fall back when all indications in the market point that way.