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Milton aftermath: Gas station fights break out as Tampa Bay area residents swarm for fuel

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Published  October 11, 2024 9:48pm EDT
Pasco County
FOX 13 News

Law enforcement calls for patience at gas stations

Evyn Moon reports

TAMPA, Fla. - In the wake of Hurricane Milton, Tampa Bay area residents are waiting in long lines at gas stations with hundreds of shutdown pumps. It's causing some unruly chaos among customers. 

"They were fighting, like fist fighting," said Tootie Jones, a security guard at a local Wawa. "One girl hit another girl with her car, they were really fighting for gas. We couldn’t get them into order. We had to call the police, because they were really being crazy."

The Pasco Sheriff's Office is asking people for patience and respect after they witnessed fights break out at the gas pumps. 

READ: Historic flooding in Pasco County prompts voluntary evacuation order

"When we do get these calls about people arguing at gas stations, we are staying there, which is just putting more resources," said Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco. "But, the problem is, we know that if we leave, the problem is just going to keep going on, and it's going to return. So unfortunately, sometimes for us, it's babysitting. And if that's what we got to do to maintain order, that's what we're going to do. But unfortunately, let everybody understand, we're very, very limited resources."

He said they've received 177 calls for gas station fights by Friday afternoon. 

"You're seeing lines that are about a half mile long. And then you're seeing people get very, very upset over whose spot line or cut people off. So that's one of the things we're telling people, you know, calm down," said Nocco. 

But, there is some good news going into the weekend of some relief as Port Tampa Bay gets power back and reopens.

MORE: Rescue operations in Pasco County as floodwaters rose after Hurricane Milton

"Right now, there are over 10 oil tankers, each carrying over 10 million gallons of refined products on their way to Florida. In fact, we already have one tanker that is sitting waiting outside of the port of Tampa ready to come into the terminal," said Andrew Lipow, with Lipow Oil Associates. 

He said after a major hurricane, this has been a pretty speedy reopening of the ports. 

"If we think about the hurricane making landfall on Wednesday evening and here it is 48 hours later, to complete all of these recovery efforts and get gasoline to the consumer, that's pretty good," Lipow said.  

"I wish they would just take their time be patient. Everybody is gonna get gas, be mindful of each other," said Jones.

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