As Hurricane Milton approaches Florida, panic-buying has led to a significant number of gas stations running out of fuel. The storm, downgraded to a Category 4, is expected to make landfall on Wednesday after passing through Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Over 1 million residents have been ordered to evacuate, with parts of Florida still recovering from Hurricane Helene, which struck at the end of September.
By Tuesday evening, approximately 7,912 gas stations in Florida—about 17.4% of the total—had reported fuel shortages, a stark increase from virtually no outages just a day earlier, according to data from GasBuddy. Patrick De Haan, an analyst at the company, noted that demand for gasoline has surged as residents rush to evacuate. “These numbers will continue to rise very fast,” he warned.
Florida, the third-largest gasoline consumer in the United States, relies on waterborne imports for fuel, as it lacks local refineries. Each year, more than 17 million tons of petroleum and natural gas products are transported through Tampa Bay, according to the Energy Information Administration. However, the US Coast Guard has reported that Tampa and most other Florida ports were closed to vessel traffic on Tuesday.
Fuel delivery operations are also facing disruptions. Kinder Morgan has shut down its Central Florida Pipeline, which transports refined products between Tampa and Orlando, and closed all fuel delivery terminals in Tampa. The company indicated that fuel deliveries may continue from Orlando until wind speeds exceed 35 miles per hour. Other companies, including CITGO Petroleum and Buckeye Partners, have also halted operations at their Tampa terminals.
Industry experts predict that Milton could pose significant challenges to Florida’s gasoline supply chain, potentially resulting in lasting issues similar to those seen after Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Tom Kloza, head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service, remarked, “It’s hard to anticipate any tankers or barges coming in to Tampa Bay until Sunday or Monday.”