"No need to rush to the pumps," Broward mayor on Port Everglades gas deliveries
FORT LAUDERDALE - If you were out Monday in Miami-Dade or Broward counties searching for gas, you were either lucky to find some or unlucky. If you were able to fuel up, chances are you were stuck in long lines.
The shortage of fuel across South Florida is due to last week's torrential rain and subsequent flooding that led to a temporary gas delivery delay.
On Sunday and Monday, South Floridians relied pretty much on word of mouth to find service stations that had gas through apps like NexDoor or Ring.
At least one gas station in Kendall, had gas earlier in the day only to run out by the early afternoon.
On Monday, Broward Mayor Lamar Fisher had an update.
"Fuel supply arriving at Port Everglades remains sufficient and deliveries to the consumers are anticipated to increase at a regular pace over the next few days. Three fuel tanker ships are currently in port and five are offshore waiting to unload. There is no need to panic or rush to the pumps," said Fisher.
"It's a fluid issue. We have terminals here that are privately owned by the gas facility folks. So what's happening is their pumps were inundated with water. So they are trying to get these pumps in working order to get the fuel out of their tanks to the tankers to get it to the gas stations. There is no issue with fuel, we have plenty of fuel here at the docks, we have plenty of fuel that is out and coming toward us to Port Everglades," he added.
Fisher said that progress has been made but more needs to be done.
"Right now there are seven terminals open out of 12. There are seven that are now, it's just a matter of time. Normally, we have 1,200 trucks that are getting fuel out on a daily basis, we're about 50 percent right now," he said.
Lucia Green said she struck out twice trying to find fuel Monday in Broward.
"It's frustrating because I'm down to a quarter of a tank, I want to make sure I have enough because of the rainy weather," she said.
Fisher asked for patience and believes port deliveries will return to normal soon.
"I want to thank our residents for their patience because obviously, this is Mother Nature and nothing we can control. I want to thank them for their resiliency and ask that they continue to please hang in there. Each day gets better," said Fisher.