Florida gas stations: When will the fuel supply go back to normal after hurricane Milton?
Residents are advised to be patient and avoid unnecessary trips to gas stations as a quarter of pumps are still without fuel days later.
Hurricane Milton’s devastating impact on Florida has left thousands of gas stations without fuel, causing significant disruptions for residents and businesses across the state. The storm’s aftermath has created a complex situation that will take time to resolve, but experts predict a gradual return to normalcy in the coming days.
As of Friday, October 12, 2024, nearly 29% of Florida’s gas stations were out of fuel, affecting approximately 2,320 of the state’s 8,000 stations. The Tampa Bay area has been hit particularly hard, with about 74% of stations running dry. Other affected regions include Sarasota, Fort Myers, Naples, and Gainesville.
However, plans are underway to refill fuel stocks in the state.
“You need to get workers, terminal operators and truck drivers back, and the Coast Guard needs to inspect the channel for debris, and replace any navigational buoys. All that stuff is happening as we speak,” Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates told CBS MoneyWatch.
While the situation remains challenging, experts are optimistic about a relatively quick recovery.
When will Floridian fuel access be restored?
The American Automobile’s Association (AAA)’s Patrick De Haan is optimistic about he time it will take for fuel access to recover, posting this to Twitter on Saturday night.
FLORIDA: TONIGHT could be the first night that station outages DROP overnight. Port Tampa is reopened to incoming supply vessels and has power. Fuel trucks will be likely VERY active tonight- stay away from trucks- give them space at gas stations- outages SHOULD soon DROP.
— Patrick De Haan ⛽️📊 (@GasBuddyGuy) October 13, 2024
Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), told CBS MoneyWatch the gas availability will be back to normal by Wednesday.
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