LAKELAND, Fla (WFLA) – While Gov. Rick Scott claims there is plenty of fuel and no danger of running out, people stopping at several Polk County gas stations found otherwise Thursday night.
Jose Leguen stopped at the Circle K on U.S. 92 in Lakeland. His Toyota was running on fumes.
“Dude, I’ve been out here looking for gas for about 20 minutes,” Leguen said. “And I’m running even lower than I was originally.”
Katrina Mayorga is in a similar pickle. She stopped at another station before arriving at the Circle K.
“I went to ones down the road … down Wabash,” Mayorga said. “And they’re out of gas.”
Gregg Laskoski is a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. When the governor announced fuel would not be an issue for the state, he was scratching his head.
“That worried me too. I heard him say we’ve got at least six days of supply,” Laskoski said.
He says some stations may run out of gas. Others may have gas, but lose power at the pumps. There are also other factors that can diminish supply.
“Fuel consumption patterns go out the window when you have a hurricane approaching, especially a category 4 hurricane that causes massive evacuations statewide,” he said.
On Wednesday GasBuddy activated its gasoline availability tracker for those in the path of Hurricane Matthew. Motorist can search and report gas availability and power outages via the website. You can also install the app on your IOS and Android phones.
