South Florida residents fill up their gas tanks to prepare for Hurricane Dorian

NORTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - Residents in North Miami had an early morning on Friday to prepare and fuel up ahead of Hurricane Dorian’s arrival.

Some woke up extra early to beat the crowd at a Costco, located along Sole Mia Way, after they opened at 5 a.m.

“I set my alarm, I got up and came by, and there was no hassle,” said resident Ramon Rodriguez. “It’s totally empty.”

By 6 a.m., the empty station was filled with cars as residents waited patiently to stock up on gas.

Drone footage captured lines of cars waiting to make it to the pump.

Some weren’t as lucky on Thursday night, as multiple stations ran out of gas and drivers pulled up to the pump only to see a bag over the nozzle.

“I’m thinking, damn, we’re running out of gas,” said resident Juan Lopez. “I don’t have gas to get to work. That’s first responders not being able to get to where they need to go.”

The same lines could be seen at a Costco in Davie.

“I want to fill up my tank so that when it’s time to go, I’ll go,” a driver said.

As the frustration continues to build up before the storm, drivers said it’s just better to be prepared as early as possible.

“We need gas because without gas, we can’t run generators, we can’t run our cars,” said Lopez.

The lines for gas are expected to grow throughout the day.

Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about fuel availability in Florida at the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee on Friday morning.

“We have a lot of fuel in Florida,” said DeSantis. “It’s just, we have limited capacity to bring it from the port to the gas stations because you can only have so many trucks at one time doing that. We’re also going to be, starting today, implementing Florida Highway Patrol escorts for fuel trucks so we can facilitate refueling in critical parts of the state.”

DeSantis said the traffic at gas stations affects the fuel trucks trying to make it there to replenish the gas supply.

“We’re bringing in now fuel from out of state from Louisiana, and I’m going to work with the federal government to see if there’s anything else we can do in the short term,” DeSantis said. “Those patrolman were escorting the tankers from Port Everglades to locations in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.”

Several gas stations in South Florida have sold out of gas. The lack of fuel frustrated some residents, such as Laura Anderson.

“When I was heading work, three gas stations, no gas, so I’d figured I’d wait until after work,” Anderson said. “Drove by one, no gas there.”

According to the latest report, more than half of the stations in Miami and Fort Lauderdale are empty.

“It’s a little bit frustrating, but I thought I’ll just wait and be patient,” Adam, a driver, said. “If the line is long, I’m going to wait. It’s not the first time I’ve had to do that. I thought, ‘OK, I’ll do this so at least I have a way to get around in case there’s a problem.'”

On a normal day, Floridians consume 30 million gallons of fuel. The usage increases during a serious storm. The increased demand shortened the supply and lengthened the lines.

DeSantis has taken these measures so more storm preppers can fill up at the pump.

“The [Environmental Protection Agency] has granted our request for fuel waivers to expand the fuel supply in Florida,” DeSantis said.

The weekend could be one of the only windows to to fill up the tanks. Depending on where the storm hits and how severe the damage is, some of these gas stations won’t reopen for days after the storm hits.

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