Gas Stations Run Empty as Panic Grips Florida Ahead of Hurricane Milton

By Shariq Khan

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A significant number of gasoline retailers in Florida displayed empty fuel signs on Tuesday as panic-buying surged among residents preparing for a major hurricane set to make landfall.

Hurricane Milton was downgraded to a Category 4 storm as it approached Florida’s Gulf Coast after crossing Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Over 1 million people have been ordered to evacuate, and many areas in Florida are still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which struck the state at the end of September.

The storm is expected to reach land on Wednesday.

As of 11:10 a.m. Eastern Time, approximately 15.8% of Florida’s gasoline stations had run out of fuel, a sharp increase from the previous morning when outages were almost nonexistent, according to data from fuel market tracker GasBuddy.

Patrick De Haan, an analyst at GasBuddy, noted the dramatic increase in gasoline demand as people hurry to evacuate. “These numbers will continue to rise very fast,” he stated, highlighting potential issues for fuel distribution networks due to the storm’s trajectory over Tampa Bay.

Florida ranks as the third-largest gasoline consumer in the United States but relies entirely on waterborne imports, as no refineries are located within the state. Typically, more than 17 million tons of petroleum and natural gas-related products are transported through Tampa Bay each year, according to government data.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that Tampa and most other Florida ports had closed to all vessel traffic.

TERMINALS SHUT

Kinder Morgan has suspended operations of its Central Florida Pipeline system, which transports refined products between Tampa and Orlando. The company stated that all fuel delivery terminals in Tampa are closed, although trucks may still collect fuel from Orlando wholesale racks until wind speeds exceed 35 miles per hour.

According to wholesale distributor Mansfield, deliveries cannot safely occur in winds beyond that threshold, anticipating that these conditions will nearly halt all fuel deliveries across Florida by Wednesday.

CITGO Petroleum has also announced the closure of its Tampa terminal.

Mansfield has moved all Florida markets to a "Code Red" status, requiring 72-hour notices for new deliveries, as well as asking for 48-hour notices for deliveries in southern Georgia.

Milton could become the most significant disruptor to Florida’s gasoline supply since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, commented Tom Kloza, head of energy analysis at Oil Price Information Service. "It’s hard to anticipate any tankers or barges coming into Tampa Bay until Sunday or Monday," Kloza added, emphasizing the potential for prolonged supply challenges in the region if a major storm impacts infrastructure.