(CNN) – Gas stations in many areas of Florida are running out of gas as residents prepare for Hurricane Milton.
Demand for gasoline has increased as some residents along Milton’s path try to fill up with fuel before evacuating. Others who plan to stay are trying to fill their gas tanks so they can power their generators in case they are without power for a long time.
Gasoline price tracking service GasBuddy reported that as of Tuesday morning, 14.5% of gas stations across the state were out of fuel, a dramatic increase from just 3% on Monday. With about 7,500 stations in the state, that estimate means there are about 1,500 currently out of gas. This compares to approximately 17.4% of gas stations statewide out of fuel as of 2 p.m. (Miami time) this Tuesday.
The situation was much worse in areas facing mandatory evacuation orders. In Fort Myers, on the state’s Gulf Coast, 70% of stations were out of gas Monday night.
“It’s a testament to how fast the storm is moving and how intense it is,” said Patrick De Haan, energy analyst at GasBuddy. “It is a radical change.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has tried to curb panic buying and drivers filling up their tanks, which may worsen the shortage. DeSantis, in a press conference Tuesday morning, assured residents that the state is working to get emergency supplies of gasoline to stations that have run out of fuel.
He said the state’s reserves include 110,000 gallons of gasoline and 268,000 gallons of diesel fuel. And he said that while those reserves are dwindling due to distribution that has already taken place, there are 1.2 million gallons of both fuels currently on their way to the state. DeSantis indicated that 27 fuel trucks were escorted by the Florida Highway Patrol to deliver fuel to stations in the storm’s anticipated impact area.
“We have been shipping fuel for the last 24 hours because gas stations have run out of fuel,” he said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “There is no fuel shortage. Fuel continues to arrive in the state of Florida. But the lines at gas stations have been long and gas stations are running out of fuel faster than they otherwise would.”
Once the storm passes, problems getting gasoline into the state could persist if there is damage to the Port of Tampa from the hurricane, gasoline market experts said. That’s because that port is a key entry point for much of the gasoline that comes into the state, via tanker trucks or barges.
From there, it is distributed to the rest of the state by tanker trucks and by a pipeline that leads to the Orlando area. But there are no pipelines bringing gasoline from Gulf Coast refineries or northern states, as the fuel is distributed throughout much of the rest of the country.
“The Port of Tampa is critical to the supply of much of the state,” said Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, which tracks gasoline prices for AAA. “It is one of the most crucial pieces of the country’s fuel infrastructure. “I would be hard-pressed to find a market that is more reliant on seaborne supply and more susceptible to hurricanes and storm surges.”
The port has been closed due to the storm, although DeSantis said it currently has fuel at its gas terminals and continues to operate ahead of the storm. It could take a while to reopen to tankers and barges once the storm passes, said Andy Lipow, a petroleum analyst at Lipow Oil Associates.
“They will not return until the storm has passed and the Coast Guard checks for sunken debris in the channel and replaces the navigation buoys,” he explained.
And the real fear is that the hurricane and storm surge could cause significant damage to the port.
“We’re assuming, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, but we’re assuming that there will be significant damage to the Port of Tampa, so we’re operating as if there’s going to be a significant disruption in their ability to receive fuel,” DeSantis said. He said state officials are working to make other arrangements to bring fuel to the state.
