The hunt for gasoline is adding to Floridians’ anxiety as Milton nears

abcnews.go.com:

The hunt for gasoline is among the many stresses for Floridians preparing for Hurricane Milton, regardless of whether they plan to ride it out or evacuate

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida gas stations struggled to keep up with demand Tuesday as long lines and empty pumps compounded the stress for residents planning to hunker down or flee as Hurricane Milton approached the state's western coast.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference that state officials, including the Florida Highway Patrol, were working with fuel companies to continue bringing in gasoline ahead of Milton's expected landfall on Wednesday. Troopers escorted 27 fuel trucks to stations Monday night, DeSantis said.

Patrick De Haan, an analyst for GasBuddy, said “replenishments are happening,” but about 16.5% of Florida stations were out of fuel as of Tuesday afternoon — up from 3.5% a day earlier. More than 43% of the stations in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area had no gasoline as of late Tuesday morning, according to GasBuddy.

DeSantis outlined replenishment efforts during his morning news conference.

“We have been dispatching fuel over the past 24 hours as gas stations have run out,” DeSantis said. “So we currently have 268,000 gallons of diesel, 110,000 gallons of gasoline. Those numbers are less than what they were 24 hours ago because we’ve put a lot in, but we have an additional 1.2 million gallons of both diesel and gasoline that is currently en route to the state of Florida.”

DeSantis stressed that there wasn't a fuel shortage.

“That’s technically correct. Fuel is flowing, but stations can’t keep caught up,” De Haan said. “But it’s hard to tell somebody that's at a pump with a bag over it that there’s no shortage.”

“You've got to have