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After one of the biggest evacuations in United States history, many Floridians are returning to their homes to assess the damage caused by Hurricane Irma.
Irma, which made landfall Saturday night as a Category 4 storm in the Florida Keys, ravaged many parts of Florida with its strong winds and torrential rainfall. But as the millions of people drive home, many have been faced with the reality that there’s a shortage of gas.
According to CNN Money, about 60 percent of the gas stations in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale and Gainsville areas were without fuel as of Monday.
“Roughly half of the gas stations in Jacksonville, Tampa, West Palm Beach and Fort Myers are also empty after Floridians took to their cars to flee the path of the storm,” the news outlet reported.
Therefore, many gas stations across the state are rushing to get refueled, but that starts with many of Florida’s ports reopening to receive shipments. Once those ports reopen, expect a “gradual” restock of fuel supplies, Goldman Sachs wrote in a research report.
A Twitter user provided an update as to which gas stations in Tampa have fuel, as of 2 p.m. Eastern Tuesday. Here’s a list of those gas stations:
Updated list of places to get gas in #Tampa as of 2pm. @CityofTampa @TB_Times
Gas Buddy is also monitoring the latest gas shortage in the Tampa area. It lists stations that have gas available, are out of electricity or gas and those with limited fuel options. To see a complete map of the Gas Buddy Tracker, click here.
On CNN TV on Tuesday, news reports came from the Tampa area showing drivers rushing to the pumps to fill up.
Reporter Dianne Gallagher, who had been reporting on the storm, said gasoline is currently like “liquid gold” in the area.
“This is really hard to find right now,” Gallagher said. “We came from word of mouth because we were running out of fuel.”
Gallagher said people are getting word which stations have gas through other people and flocking to the locations.
As of Tuesday afternoon, GasBuddy.com reported 50 percent of gas stations in Tampa are without fuel, but many stations are starting to replenish their fuel supplies.
Help appears to be on the way. CBS News’ Courtney Robinson tweeted Tuesday afternoon that the Port of Tampa “has plenty of gas” and access to a resupply. The only issue is logistics, which are being resolved.
Gas situation: Port of Tampa has plenty of gas & access to a quick resupply. Issue is logistics w/ vendors stopping shipments pre-Irma.