UPDATE: As of Sunday, the Florida Highway Patrol says the gas depots can only be used for vehicles, and not portable gas tanks.
ORIGINAL STORY:
If you're having trouble finding gas, you now have some free options across the region.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday announced the state is opening fuel depots to help meet the demand.
From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., residents can get up to 10 gallons of gas at these locations:
- Tom Bennett Park, 280 Kay Rd., Bradenton
- Plant City Stadium, 1810 S. Park Rd., Plant City
- Central Lot – Parking Lot, 800 1st Ave S., St. Petersburg
DeSantis said the state plans to open additional locations in Tampa, Pinellas County, at least one in Sarasota, and perhaps more depending on the demand.
On Sunday at 10 a.m., four new fuel depots will open:
- Suncoast Technical College, 4445 Career Lane, North Port
- East Bay Raceway, 6311 Burts Rd., Tampa
- St. Petersburg College Tarpon Springs, 66 E. Klosterman Rd.
- Charlotte Sports Park, 2300 El Jobean Rd., Port Charlotte
- New College of Florida, 500 College Dr., Sarasota
- South Florida State College, 2251 NE Turner Ave., Arcadia
DeSantis said it's a way to make gas available while many stations remain without power and with Port Tampa Bay working to provide shipments.
"Obviously as power gets restored, maybe some of them have generators that they can get on, and when the Port of Tampa's open, you're going to see the fuel flowing," DeSantis said. "But in the meantime, we want to give people another option."
READ MORE: People across the Tampa Bay area are waiting a really long time for gas
In a news release, DeSantis also said the Florida Department of Emergency Management has 1.8 million gallons of diesel and more than 1 million gallons of emergency fuels on hand for the fuel depots.
DeSantis said the fuel depots will serve as an aid for residents while gas is delivered to the stations and they have power restored — which he said could start happening soon.
He said some of the stations are not in operation due to not having a generator. he said the Florida Division of Emergency Management is prepared to deliver generators if it appears their power outage may be out long-term.
"If you have a stretch where you've got service stations and power's anticipated to come on later today, well then, they're not going to rush a generator down to rewire it for the generator when the power is going to come on," DeSantis said. "Anyways, if they think it may be 48 hours or more, then they're seeing that demand and bringing generators to those service stations.
"So I think you'll see you can continue to see that. But we are also optimistic that you're going to see a lot of these stations end up getting power relatively short order in the in the coming days."
