TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Long lines and empty pumps at some Florida gas stations Tuesday compounded the stress for residents planning to either hunker down or flee as Hurricane Milton approached the state’s western coast. Gov.
Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference that state officials were working with fuel companies to continue bringing in gasoline ahead of Milton’s expected landfall on Wednesday. “We have been dispatching fuel over the past 24 hours as gas stations have run out,” DeSantis said. “So we currently have 268,000 gallons of diesel, 110,000 gallons of gasoline.
Those numbers are less than what they were 24 hours ago because we’ve put a lot in, but we have an additional 1.2 million gallons of both diesel and gasoline that is currently en route to the state of Florida.” DeSantis said there wasn’t a fuel shortage.
But the hunt for gasoline was another nerve-fraying task for people preparing for a major hurricane. “You’ve got to have patience,” Stephanie Grover-Brock, a Tampa resident in line for gasoline in the Riverview area, said Tuesday morning. “It’s a little aggravating.
You’ve got to be patient, be determined and just have grace.” Nearby, motorist Ralph Douglas said some gas stations in Ruskin, where he lives, ran out of gas, but he was able to find fuel elsewhere. Also in line was Martin Oakes of Apollo Beach.
“I was able to get some gas yesterday, but then they ran out,” Oakes said, waiting in a slow-moving line. “.