Three out of five gas stations in Tampa are out of fuel as Hurricane Milton nears
Gas Buddy reports fuel shortages spreading to other regions, with one-third of stations in the Fort Myers/Naples, Sarasota, and Gainesville areas experiencing low supplies.
Most gas stations in the Tampa area had run out of fuel by Wednesday as locals rushed to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Milton’s anticipated landfall later today.
The latest update from the National Hurricane Center reported the storm’s sustained winds at 145 mph, with landfall expected late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
“It’s a historic and catastrophic situation,” stated Austen Flannery, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Tampa. Millions of Floridians have been either ordered or strongly advised to evacuate as Milton, considered a life-threatening storm, moves toward the state.
As the hurricane approaches, tornadic supercells have started to sweep across the Florida Peninsula, posing additional risks, according to the National Hurricane Center.
With severe weather expected, gas shortages were anticipated, but officials affirm that more fuel is on its way. Here’s what we know.
Three out of five stations lack fuel
As of Wednesday morning, data from Gas Buddy, an app for locating gas stations, showed that three out of five gas stations in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area were out of fuel.
In the Sarasota region, around 39% of gas stations were out of fuel, while the Fort Myers/Naples area reported a 35% shortage. To the north in Gainesville, 32% of gas stations were facing fuel shortages.
In the eastern part of the state, the Orlando/Daytona Beach area also reported shortages at roughly 27% of its gas stations, according to Gas Buddy’s data.
Fuel outages in the Tampa area
Gas Buddy offers tools for drivers to locate gasoline based on recent updates. Click here to access their interactive tracker. These were the reported fuel outages in Tampa on Wednesday morning:
During a news conference earlier on Tuesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis assured that more fuel was being dispatched to the state. Although the rapid depletion of available fuel seems to have slowed, it has not yet ceased.
“We have been sending fuel over the last 24 hours as gas stations have run dry,” said DeSantis. “An additional 1.2 million gallons of both diesel and gasoline are currently on their way to Florida.”
