Fuel stations across Florida were resuming operations on Monday, easing fuel shortages as the state recovered from back-to-back hurricanes which caused widespread disruption.
Millions evacuated their homes last week to escape Hurricane Milton, jamming highways and causing gasoline shortages less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene slammed the state. The fuel shortages also affected clean-up efforts.
Only about 17% of Florida's nearly 8,000 gasoline retail outlets were out of fuel on Monday at 1 p.m. EDT, down from a peak of over 26% on Friday, according to data from market tracker GasBuddy.com.
Tampa, which was spared from the catastrophic surge of seawater many forecasters feared, saw gas station outages decline to less than half of total area stations on from a peak of over 75%
Florida is the third-largest gasoline consumer in the U.S. There are no refineries in the state, so it depends on shipments from elsewhere by land or water. Port Tampa Bay, through which over 43% of Florida's annual fuel imports pass, resumed vessel operations on Sunday, which should improve fuel availability in coming days, wholesale petroleum distributor Mansfield Energy said.
Full story Florida gas station outages ease as state attempts to recover from hurricanes | Reuters
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