Fuel shortages hinder Hurricane Milton cleanup efforts in Florida, over 1

Floridians recovering from Hurricane Milton, many of whom were journeying home after fleeing hundreds of miles to escape the storm, spent much of Saturday searching for gas as a fuel shortage gripped the state.

In St. Petersburg, scores of people lined up at a station that had no gas, hoping it would arrive soon. Among them was 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 have gas coming but they don’t know when it’s going to be here,” he 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 opened three fuel distribution sites and planned to open several more. Residents can get 10 gallons each, free of charge, he said.

“Obviously as power gets restored…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.

About one in three gas stations across the state were still closed Saturday, many of which are unable to operate because they are still without power, causing a bottleneck for those that are open.

DeSantis said that 37 million gallons of gas arrived at Florida ports Saturday.

“We have Florida Highway Patrol that will escort the tankers from the ports to the respective service stations,” DeSantis said.

Tensions boiled over at one gas station north of Tampa Saturday over the long wait times.

“They were fighting, like fist fighting,” Tootie Jones, a gas station security guard, told CBS News. “One girl hit another girl with a car.”

In the community of Brandon east of Tampa, one woman said she had been waiting in line for gas for two hours. 

Milton killed at least 23 people when it tore across central Florida on Wednesday, flooding barrier islands, ripping the roof off the Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball stadium and spawning deadly tornadoes.

Officials say the toll could have been worse if not for the widespread evacuations. Overall, more than a thousand people had been rescued in the wake of the storm as of Saturday, DeSantis said.