FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Residents in South Florida are finally seeing some relief at the gas pump and in their neighborhoods more than a week after historic flooding caused by unprecedented rains swept through the region.
The flooding interrupted the supply chain out of Port Everglades, making it difficult for tanker trucks to refuel gas stations. Additionally, several fuel terminals were damaged by the waters, exacerbating the situation.
Patrick De Haan, a spokesperson with GasBuddy, tweeted on Thursday updated percentages of gasoline shortages in South Florida. Meanwhile, filled fuel tankers slowly made their way to gas stations in the area.
“We now have 9 of our 12 terminals up and operating, which is great news,” said Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher, “and what that means is obviously gas is getting to the stations that are needed.”
While drivers are grateful for the relief, some are still feeling the effects of the flooding.
“Thank God they’re here. It’s been a week, seven days since this flood,” said one resident.
Meanwhile, some communities are still trying to clean up and dry off, but help for homeowners may be on the way.
Crews from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) arrived on the ground to assess the damage and provide assistance.
“When it comes to impacts to individual homeowners and renters, there is not a threshold, but we do want to see the overall impact to a community: how many homes are destroyed, how many have major damage,” said one FEMA representative.
However, getting help from FEMA takes time, and they are just one part of the recovery effort.
“FEMA assistance is only designed to help jumpstart a survivor’s recovery, to give them a hand up,” said the representative.
Despite the challenges, the communities affected are slowly recovering from the historic flooding. With fuel slowly making its way back to gas stations and FEMA providing assistance to those in need, there is hope that South Florida will soon be able to put this disaster behind it.
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