31 Percent Of Florida Gas Stations Running On Empty

ACROSS FLORIDA — The gas-tracking app GasBuddy is reporting 30.8 percent of Florida gas stations are running on empty as east coast evacuations continue in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Dorian.

The Miami/Fort Lauderdale area is reporting the most gas stations without fuel (53 percent), while Jacksonville has 18 percent of its stations without gas. This is an improvement from Sunday when the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area had 68 percent of its stations without gas and Jacksonville was reporting 24 percent of its stations were dry.

To ensure that evacuees had access to gas, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis waived trucking regulations and had the Florida Highway Patrol escort fuel trucks to resupply gas stations.

“There are some parts of the state where you have major lines for gas, cars are lined up,” he said. “It makes it more difficult for the trucks to get in and replenish the gas supply, so I think the escorts will help with that.”

Here's the percentage of other areas in the state without gas:

• Gainesville 53 percent
• Fort Myers/Naples 45 percent
• West Palm Beach 42 percent
• Tampa Bay 42 percent
• Orlando/Daytona Beach 40 percent

Patch is tracking every move of Tropical Storm Dorian. Get all the updates on the storm by subscribing to Patch's free breaking news alerts and daily newsletters.

Other states in Dorian's cone of uncertainty are faring better. South Carolina has .52 percent of stations without gas and Georgia has only .24 percent of its stations without gas.

SEE ALSO: First Tropical-Force Winds Hit FL As Hurricane Dorian Nears

While he said some stations along Florida's east coast, especially in mandatory evacuation areas, will temporarily close, DeSantis vowed to keep supplying gas at stations along Florida's evacuation routes to ensure that residents can get out of the impacted areas.

To help travelers check fuel availability on their journey, GasBuddy has activated its online tracker for Florida, South Carolina and Georgia. Travelers can download the free GasBuddy app, which will indicate when stations have no gas, no diesel fuel or no power before they pull in. The crowdsourced tracker can be updated by drivers.

Travelers can expect to pay the most for gas in Jefferson County at the Georgia state line. The average price in Jefferson County is $2.599 per gallon. Broward County has the next most expensive gas at $2.5 per gallon. Those traveling throughout Florida will pay an average of $2.423 per gallon.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said gas stations charging more than these prices should be reported to the state's price-gouging hotline at 1-866-966-7226 or download the NO SCAM app available for iOS and Android.

It's pumping the gas that may pose the biggest difficulty for evacuees.

The average time waiting in line for gas is 14 minutes in Florida and George and 13 minutes in South Carolina.