PLANT CITY – Governor Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Plant City on Saturday to discuss Hurricane Milton’s recovery efforts underway in Florida.
DeSantis said nearly 90% of all stop signals have been repaired, all major highways and bridges have reopened, all airports except the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport have reopened, and 18 closed school districts are slated to reopen Monday.
READ MORE: Hurricane Milton: Gas distribution underway after Port Tampa Bay impacted by power issues
However, DeSantis spent most of the news conference on the state’s efforts to quell the current gas shortage.
DeSantis announced that the state will provide up to 10 gallons of free gas to any resident who needs it from three gas distribution sites along Florida’s western coast.
Gas distribution sites:
Sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Plant City: 1810 S Park Rd Plant City, FL 33563
Bradenton: 280 Kay Rd Bradenton, FL 34208
St. Petersburg: 800 1st Ave S St. Petersburg, FL 33701
DeSantis also said that the state has plans to open more gas distribution sites “closer to the heart of Tampa in Hillsborough County” and “another one in a different part of Pinellas County.”
DeSantis stated that “at least one” gas distribution site will be opened within Sarasota County and that the state remains receptive to the idea of opening more sites depending on demand.
The Florida Highway Patrol is escorting fuel shipments from the Port of Tampa Bay and Port Canaveral to service stations around the region, and DeSantis said that if gas stations need generators to help pump the gas delivered, the state stands ready to provide them.
“If they [gas stations] don’t have the power to run the pumps, then it’s an academic issue,” DeSantis said. “What we’re doing in the state of Florida Kevin Guthrie [Executive Director, Florida Division of Emergency Management] and his team, they have generators that can be deployed.”
The opening of gas distribution sites is in addition to the nearly 500,000 gallons of gasoline and 400,000 gallons of diesel that the state released directly into the supply chain to service stations before Hurricane Milton’s landfall.
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