2023-04-19 17:21:37
MIAMI, Florida – The Florida authorities announced that some 500,000 gallons of fuel are going to service stations in the southeast of the state to alleviate the fuel shortage caused by the heavy rains that fell last week and asked the population for patience, while the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) announced that it will escort trucks with gasoline to ensure safe distribution.
The Florida Division for Emergency Management (FDEM) assured that “the State is ready to help” its “private sector partners in the distribution and delivery of fuel” by means of 500,000 gallons.
While FHP said it began escorting fuel trucks from Tuesday night to ensure gasoline is delivered safely to gas stations. “We will work day and night to ensure that all of our citizens have access to fuel,” he said on his Twitter account.
Heavy rains last week, reaching record levels of more than 25 inches (63.5 cm) in Fort Lauderdale caused flooding that caused extensive damage to numerous homes.
The rains also left flooding in areas where private oil companies operate in Port Everglades, the most important gasoline distribution center in South Florida, including Miami-Dade and Broward counties, as well as the Florida Keys.
In this way, after a difficult weekend for motorists in South Florida in need of fuel, this Tuesday several stations were still without supply while those that dispensed fuel registered long lines of cars, as Telemundo 51 was able to verify.
Despite the fact that fuel tankers are arriving in the southeast of the state, problems still persist in obtaining gasoline.
Port Everglades officials said Wednesday morning that all indicators point to more fuel beginning to arrive faster at gas stations in South Florida.
“There are now 9 of the 12 reporting gasoline terminals in Port Everglades that have recovered from last week’s severe flooding and are distributing gasoline and diesel to retailers,” they said in a statement.
Additionally, they explained that the gasoline from the companies that operate in the ports of Tampa and Cape Canaveral are being delivered directly to retail stations to complement the available resources.
“Fuel ships continue to bring petroleum products to Port Everglades. There is no shortage of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel or other petroleum products,” they said.
Delivery delays are expected to continue to decrease, according to authorities.
Several fuel pumps were damaged and for 36 hours the 1,200 tanker trucks that normally transported fuel from that port were stopped by the storm, creating the fuel distribution problem.
According to FDEM, fuel has been being removed from storage centers in Cape Canaveral (east of downtown Orlando) and Tampa (west) to support supply operations in the southeast, as reported from Port Erverglades.
“With the weather improving, we expect distribution to continue to improve and we don’t anticipate any more gasoline shortages. As local gas stations now receive regular shipments, we ask residents to think twice before heading to the pump. ),” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement Tuesday.
REPORT HIGH FUEL PRICES
“We know that our residents faced difficulties finding gasoline at stations due to last week’s rains and heavy flooding that caused delays in fuel distribution,” the Miami-Dade County mayor said in a statement.
Levine-Cava reminded residents that price gouging is illegal under a state of emergency, adding: “If you, or someone you know, notices a gas price increase, please contact the price gouging hotline. from Florida in MyFloridaLegal.com or by calling 1 (866) 966-7226”.
In another area, the county mayor stressed “that the weather has improved, we hope that distribution will also improve and we do not anticipate any more shortages of gasoline. As the stations receive new supplies of fuel, we ask residents to think twice before you go. By buying gasoline only when we really need it, we can help get stations back to normal service as quickly as possible.”
André Khouri, spokesperson for the American Automobile Association (AAA) explains that “we have to handle security first…you have to first assess the risk at the port and the best way to do that is in an orderly and safe way for that the trucks can leave the port quickly”.
Florida only receives fuel through ships that arrive at four ports in the state from refineries located in the Gulf of Mexico or on the US east coast. Port Everglades, in Broward, supplies fuel to twelve counties in the southern sector, especially Monroe, Miami-Dade and Broward.
“There is no shortage. Gasoline inventories are quite strong. What exists is a logistical problem that means that the trucks cannot enter to get fuel”, explains the AAA spokesperson.
HOW TO FIND FUEL
To avoid wasting time finding gasoline, use an application on your cell phone, such as GasBuddy, but there are other similar ones as well. It is easy to use, you just have to put your current location and it will show you a list of gas stations around you, those that do not have fuel will have a symbol under the name of the station.
WHAT DRIVERS SAY
Daniel Herrera is one of many people who have had to make a long drive to get gas in Miami-Dade, but their journey has not been successful. “I’m worried because if I don’t find gasoline how do I go home (…) I can’t take the car on my shoulder,” this man who says he has gone to four gas stations asked alarmed Monday, “we must inform the people so that one does not launch into the street without knowing that there will be no gasoline”.
The manager of a fuel station located on West 49th Street in Hialeah said Tuesday that he did not know when the fuel would arrive, at his station all the stations are out of service.
“So far we don’t know when the deliveries of gas, they do not give us an explanation yet. Only that we turn off the engines because there is no more gasoline,” explains Daniela Cerda, who works at a Mobil gas station that has had no supply since Friday and has caused the business to feel the impact.
“They come to consume both gasoline and store products, so sales have dropped a lot,” says Daniela Cerda, a worker at a Mobil gas station.
Affected drivers continue to fear that this shortage will turn into a crisis.
“I’m running out of gasoline, let’s see if a gasoline downpour falls and it stops the rain,” said Daniel Herrera jokingly, one of the drivers affected by the fuel shortage.
Many Miami gas stations did not have a date to receive fuel, but in the early Wednesday tours it was possible to verify that the situation has improved with gasoline service stations, although in many cases the long lines continue and some stations were still without fuel.
1681925379
#Tanker #Trucks #Escorted #NBC #Miami