XPost: fl.general, sac.politics, sci.geo.petroleum   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: rhales@exxon.com   
      
   GasBuddy says 43% of gas stations in Tampa/St. Petersburg are out of fuel   
      
   Hurricane Milton is one of the Atlantic Basin’s strongest storms on record   
   and the frenzy of evacuations in Florida, where it’s expected to make   
   landfall Wednesday evening, has led to shortages at nearly 16% of the   
   gasoline stations in Florida, according to GasBuddy.   
      
   Fuel shortages were seen at 15.79% of the state’s gas stations, or 7,912   
   stations, as of 11:10 am Eastern time Tuesday, according to GasBuddy, a   
   source for real-time fuel prices at gas stations in the U.S., Canada, and   
   Australia.   
      
   It’s tough right now for evacuees, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum   
   analysis at GasBuddy, told MarketWatch. Hundreds of thousands, if not   
   millions, of Floridians are trying to head north on the two major highways   
   so it’s a bit of a “challenging situation.”   
      
   The most shortages in the state were seen in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area   
   with around 43.06% of those gas stations without fuel, GasBuddy reported   
   Tuesday. The Fort Myers/Naples area had 27.79%, and Gainesville 24.71%, of   
   stations out of fuel.   
      
   Data from GasBuddy show that during past emergency declarations for   
   storms, the number of gas stations without fuel tends to reach its peak   
   anywhere from day 4 to day 7 after the emergency declaration. President   
   Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Florida on Tuesday.   
      
   https://images.mktw.net/im-85439310?width=540&size=1.4533527696793003   
      
   Photo: GasBuddy   
   For those in search of fuel, particularly in Florida right now, De Haan   
   said motorists should try to target freeway exits or areas that have large   
   travel stops — ones that have more resources to deliver that fuel on a   
   timely basis, he said.   
      
   Demand for fuel tends to spike sharply ahead of big storms — and Milton,   
   which intensified to as high as a Category 5 hurricane on Monday, with   
   maximum sustained wind speeds reportedly near 180 miles per hour, is a   
   monster.   
      
   On Tuesday morning, it was downgraded to a Category 4, but National   
   Hurricane Center expects it to remain an “extremely dangerous hurricane   
   through landfall in Florida” Wednesday night.   
      
   “The biggest issue right now is availability of gasoline and the   
   logistics,” said Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price   
   Information Service (OPIS), a subsidiary of MarketWatch publisher Dow   
   Jones.   
      
   The region was still dealing with the impact of Hurricane Helene, which   
   made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast on Sept. 26, he said. All the   
   ports, such as Tampa, Fort Meyers, Manatee, St. Petersburg have all   
   closed, he said. “So no more deliveries of fuel can be made.”   
      
   https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hurricane-milton-drives-gas-demand-in-   
   florida-with-16-of-stations-out-of-fuel-b4bf8efa   
      
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