Fuel tankers have finally begun their journey from Port Tampa Bay to supply gas stations in areas devastated by Hurricane Milton.
On Friday, Mayor Jane Castor addressed the situation, revealing that the fuel terminals at Port Tampa Bay had been surrounded by rainwater, significantly hampering the supply chain. “That is the issue with gasoline right now,” Castor explained. “We have plenty out at the port. It’s getting from the port to the gas stations because of the flooding around those storage tanks at the port.”
Operations Restored at the Port
Lisa Wolf-Chason, the director of communications for Port Tampa Bay, provided an update, noting that the seven terminals, which operate privately, now have power and are no longer surrounded by floodwater. She anticipated that half of the terminals would be operational by Friday night. “They will get the fuel supply that’s stored here at the port out in the community that desperately needs it,” she assured.
By 6 p.m. on Friday, 25 tankers had successfully departed from Port Tampa Bay. Wolf-Chason added that the port’s shipping channels would reopen on Saturday, with the first vessels being fuel tankers.
Prioritizing Relief Efforts
Castor emphasized that the primary focus would be on delivering fuel to the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Milton. “Please, if you don’t have to go anywhere, don’t,” she urged, encouraging residents to conserve as much fuel as possible. She also requested patience from the community once the deliveries began.
Power Outages and Restoration Efforts
At 11:25 a.m. Friday, TECO reported over 533,439 outages on its outage map. More than 6,000 utility workers have been deployed from across the country to expedite the restoration process. TECO spokesperson Mary Lou Carn indicated that the hurricane had caused over 600,000 power outages, affecting approximately 70% of TECO’s customer base.
“This is largely due to flooding of our electrical infrastructure, a huge number of fallen trees knocking down overhead power lines and poles,” Carn detailed. “Some of the more severe impacts have been our transmission lines mostly due to debris, but the good news is those fixes should be quick and will significantly restore power to many people as these lines enable the delivery of power to our substations and distribution networks.”
TECO plans to release a restoration timeline on Friday night.
Traffic Light Concerns
With ongoing power outages in Pinellas County, Castor warned that the outages have caused 65% of Tampa’s traffic lights to fail, creating potential hazards for drivers. In situations where traffic lights are down, drivers are required to treat intersections as four-way stops. According to Director of Mobility Vik Bhide, a tragic crash has already resulted in a fatality at a non-operational traffic light. “We really do not want this to repeat,” Bhide stated.
He also mentioned that city and county pumping stations are operational and working diligently to remove floodwater, with the city’s station pumping at a capacity of 30,000 gallons per minute.
Are you on social media? Check out our profile for more local news! Follow @TampaLatest for up-to-the-minute updates in Tampa, Florida.
