DeSantis: No fuel shortage amid Milton evacuations

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said at a Tuesday press conference that there is no fuel shortage in the state, as long lines form at gas stations in areas where Hurricane Milton is expected to hit hard Wednesday night.

“There is no fuel shortage,” DeSantis said at the news conference, though he did acknowledge that some gas stations have begun to run out of fuel. The lines are forming in part as residents rush to get out of areas where Milton is expected to hit, heeding evacuation orders from local officials.

DeSantis detailed efforts that the state is taking to ameliorate the long lines and insufficient supply of fuel at some of the stations.

“Fuel continues to arrive in the state of Florida, by port and what we’re doing to bring it in on the ground,” DeSantis said. “But lines at gas stations have been long. Gas stations are running out quicker than they otherwise would, and so that is causing the state of Florida to help assist with the mission to be able to get fuel to the gas stations so that Floridians have access.”

DeSantis said Florida is amassing fuel reserves ahead of Milton’s landfall and “staging it to be utilized as needed.”

The state has already dispatched fuel to areas expected to be hit hardest by Milton, as many stations have run out of fuel in the last 24 hours. DeSantis said that 27 fuel trucks were escorted by the Florida Highway Patrol to those at-risk areas on Monday night to deliver fuel.

DeSantis also said he was working with fuel companies “to keep fuel delivered as it comes into our ports.”

As of Tuesday morning, the state had 268,000 gallons of diesel and 110,000 gallons of gasoline, DeSantis said.

“Those numbers are less than what they were 24 hours ago,” he said, “because we put a lot in, but we have an additional 1.2 million gallons of both diesel and gasoline that is currently in route to the state of Florida.”

DeSantis and other local officials urged the public to follow evacuation orders, warning of life-threatening damage to what experts say will likely be a historic storm approaching Florida panhandle’s western coast.

He also said that residents do not need to travel hundreds of miles in order to evacuate. Instead, DeSantis said, residents just need to move inland to avoid the worst of the anticipated damage.