Florida drivers waited in long lines, and in some cases came up empty as they tried to refuel their cars while evacuating during Hurricane Milton.
As of Friday morning, nearly 29% of Florida gas stations were sold out, according to GasBuddy gas analyst Patrick De Haan. That means nearly 2,320 of the state’s nearly 8,000 stations were out of fuel Friday morning.
“It may get a little worse before it starts getting better,” he added. He said On the social networking site X.
And 73% of stations in the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas were without gas, according to GasBuddy. In Sarasota, 54% of stations were empty, followed by 42% of stations in Fort Myers and Naples, 40% of stations in Gainesville, and 34% of stations in Orlando and Daytona Beach, according to On-site fuel tracking.
Fuel supplies are arriving, but experts still say motorists who don’t need fuel should wait to visit the station.
“If you don’t need to go to the gas station, don’t do it,” Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told CBS MoneyWatch. “You shouldn’t run out to fill.”
How long will it take to refuel?
Most of Orlando’s gas supply is delivered through the Port of Tampa, where there are 10 operating terminals. The major oil companies’ gas is then shipped to Orlando via pipeline. Lippo explained that the port is still working to restore power to the stations so they can receive supplies.
“You need to bring back workers, terminal operators and truck drivers, and the Coast Guard needs to check the channel for debris, replace any navigation buoys. All of these things are happening as we speak,” he said. In his estimation, the gas will not be delivered via tankers until Sunday at the earliest.
He noted that ports serving the rest of Florida are open.
“It’s going to get better. They’re going to get gas,” he said. “There’s a lot of gas headed to Florida, but the biggest hurdle right now to resupply is getting power back to the Port of Tampa.”
Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), said he expected the “gas crisis” to be completely resolved within 72 hours.
“By Tuesday or Wednesday, things will be back to normal,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.
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