Fuel shortages in Florida could last into next week
Fuel shortages in Florida could last nearly a week after Hurricane Irma as stations struggle to resupply.
Gas stations with electricity opened late Monday and Tuesday after a powerful Hurricane Irma ripped through most of Florida on Sunday and early Monday. But supplies were limited.
Ports that supply the state’s fuel terminals were down for more than three days. Key ports, including Port Tampa Bay, did not open until Tuesday at 2 p.m. Port Tampa Bay is the point of delivery for most gasoline coming into Central Florida.
About 47 percent of gas stations in the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne metropolitan area did not have fuel Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., according to a tracking project by Gasbuddy.com.
But other areas were in worse shape. About 60 percent of gas stations in the Gainesville area were without gas and 51 percent of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale’s 1,545 gas stations didn’t have fuel.
Even with gas trucks running, fuel shortages at Central Florida stations actually increased as the day went on, according to GasBuddy’s data.
It could take up to a week for shortages to be replenished, said Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA.
“There are some trucks coming in from the north,” Jenkins said. “Trucks are out trying to make deliveries, but the bigger problems are the ports being shut down.”
Gov. Rick Scott said the state is “aggressively moving fuel” into Florida and has directed the Florida Highway Patrol to escort fuel supply trucks.
Most of Central Florida’s gasoline comes on barges from Texas and Louisiana to Port Tampa Bay before it is loaded into a pipeline and sent to Orlando.
On Tuesday barges waited offshore while the Coast Guard cleared Port Tampa Bay to open, said spokeswoman Samara Sodos.
“There is no damage,” she said. “We are just waiting for clearance from the Coast Guard.”
There are 10 fuel tankers expected to arrive at Port Tampa Bay today and Thursday, Sodos said.
The gasoline pipeline terminal in Orlando reopened Tuesday morning, said Ricky Joshi, manager of distributor Sunstate Oil in Orlando.
“Whoever is opening and has power is asking for fuel,” Joshi said. “There are long lines of trucks though right now looking to fill up.”
Many stations were still without power as 70 percent of Seminole County and 50 percent of customers in Orange County were without electricity as of Tuesday morning, according to Florida disaster officials.
Florida was already running short on fuel because of refinery shutdowns from Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana. Then the buildup to Hurricane Irma sent Floridians scrambling to fill tanks and gas cans for generators in the last nine days.
“That’s one of the main challenges after a hurricane,” Jenkins said. “There is still a lot of demand for fuel.”