Floridians Face Fuel Shortage After 'Milton'

Photo: Chris O’Meara Associated Press Workers fill up cars and gas cans for residents at a depot in Plant City, Fla., on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024.

Russ Bynum – Associated Press and Brendan Farrington – Associated Press

Published at 9:38 p.m.

• United States

Floridians recovering from Hurricane Milton, many returning home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, spent much of Saturday searching for gasoline as a fuel shortage grips the U.S. state.

In St. Petersburg, dozens of people lined up at a gas station that was out of gas, hoping it would arrive soon. Among them were Daniel Thornton and his 9-year-old daughter, Magnolia, who arrived at the station at 7 a.m. and were still waiting four hours later.

“They told me they had gas coming, but they didn’t know when it was going to be here,” Thornton said. “I have no choice. I have to sit here all day with her until I get gas.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters Saturday morning that the state had opened three fueling sites and planned to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons each, free of charge, he said.

“Obviously, when the power comes back on … and the Port of Tampa is open, you're going to see the fuel flowing. But in the meantime, we want to give people another option,” DeSantis said.

Authorities replenished area gas stations with state fuel supplies and provided generators to stations that remained without power.

Further Damage After “Helene”

Those who returned home assessed the damage and began the arduous cleanup process. Some, like Bill O’Connell, a board member of Bahia Vista Gulf in Venice Township, thought they were done after the condo association hired companies to gut, treat and dry out the units after Hurricane Helene. Milton undid that work and caused further damage, Mr O'Connell said.

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“It re-flooded everything that was already flooded, brought all the sand back onto our property that we had removed,” O’Connell said. “And also caused catastrophic wind damage, ripped off a lot of roofs and blew out a lot of windows which caused more damage to the inside of the units.” »

Read also

• Powerful Hurricane “Milton” Makes Landfall in Florida
• Category 5 Hurricane “Milton” Threatens Florida

The two hurricanes left a devastation in the fishing village of Cortez, a community of 4,100 people on the northern edge of Sarasota Bay. Residents of its modest, wood-and-stucco single-story homes struggled to remove broken furniture and tree branches, piling debris in the street as they had after Hurricane Helene.

“Everything is ruined,” said Mark Praught, a retired Manatee County street sweeper who saw storm surges of 4 feet during Helene. “We’re going to replace the electrical and plumbing and go from there.” »

Joe Biden in Florida on Sunday

Milton killed at least 10 people after making landfall as a Category 3 storm, tearing through central Florida, flooding barrier islands and spawning deadly tornadoes. Authorities say the toll could have been worse without widespread evacuations.

In total, more than 1,000 people had been rescued from the storm as of Saturday, DeSantis said.

The property damage and economic costs are in the billions of dollars.

On Sunday, President Joe Biden will survey the devastation wrought on Florida’s Gulf Coast by the hurricane. He said he hopes to connect with Mr. DeSantis during the visit.

The trip offers President Biden another opportunity to pressure Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to call lawmakers back to Washington to approve more funding during their pre-election recess. That’s something Mr. Johnson has said he won’t do.

Mr. Biden has argued that Congress must act now to ensure that the Small Business Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have the money they need to get through the hurricane season, which extends through November in the Atlantic.

Mr. DeSantis welcomed the federal government’s approval of a disaster declaration announced Saturday and said he received strong support from Mr. Biden.

Moody’s Analytics estimated Saturday that the economic costs of the storm would be between $50 billion and $85 billion, including more than $70 billion in property damage and up to $15 billion in lost economic output.

Security threats remain, including rising rivers.

As the recovery continues, DeSantis warned citizens to be cautious, citing ongoing safety threats including downed power lines and standing water. According to poweroutage.us, 1.3 million Floridians were still without power as of Saturday afternoon.

National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Close said rivers “will continue to rise” for the next four to five days, leading to flooding, primarily around Tampa Bay and north. Those areas have been hardest hit by the rains, which come on top of a wet summer that has included several hurricanes.