Southwest Floridians struggling to find gas before Hurricane Ian

Reporter: Tiffany Rizzo Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
gas station
No gas sign at a Southwest Florida gas stations.

Tolls are suspended on Florida’s west coast as people plan for Hurricane Ian. People are lining up at gas stations today to prepare to evacuate, leaving some stations without gas.

There is no panic at the pump just yet. Plenty of stations still have gas, but beware, some are running low.

No gas, that’s what a sign reads at the RaceTrac on Colonial Blvd. and Winkler Ave. WINK News found another no gas sign at the 7-Eleven on Colonial Blvd and Six Mile Cypress.

“No gas. Next gas station on the left, no gas next station in front of Publix, no gas,” said Alicia Socker, struggling to get gas.

Socker was getting frustrated trying to find gas. She’s trying to do what everyone else is doing. Top off the tank before Hurricane Ian.

“I always go to 7-Eleven because I have rewards there. And so I’ve got up here, and I’m on my way to my embroidered, and they don’t have any gas. And so I saw cars pulled up here, and I was on that side, of course,” said Socker.

Socker eventually found fuel at the Circle K across the street, but there she found another problem, a station with pumps out of service. She didn’t care. “If it was $8 a gallon, I would have gotten a couple right. Seriously, when you need it, you need it.”

The lesson is that gas is hit or miss. Peter Tegowski got gas at Costco and had no trouble at all.

“Not too bad today. Now, the other day, two days ago, the line was all the way out into the street, backed up where you couldn’t get in. And so I just waited, and today’s a little bit calmer,” said Tegowski.

There is gas now, but it is better not to wait and miss out on filling your tank.

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