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Gasoline supplies rebound

Motorists line up to fill up as gas tankers arrive at Florida's ports. "Everything is flowing now," one official says.

Driving home on Florida's Turnpike Monday, Fred Reeves found plenty of the precious liquid Floridians craved in the aftermath of Hurricane Frances: gasoline.

"We're going to fill up here and head back home," Reeves said, gassing up his gold Honda CRV at the Canoe Creek rest stop 35 miles south of Orlando.

Reeves and his wife, Ginny, were headed back to Fort Pierce on the east coast after a resupply mission. Their SUV was stocked with food and jugs of water gathered at a Wal-Mart in Orlando for family and friends.

All around them, cars lined up three and four deep. Inside, station manager John Bristol worked the controls at a frenetic pace.

"Okay, $20 on pump 18, you're good," Bristol told a customer. "Ten on eight, good," he sad, taking a bill from the next person in line.

"It was like this on Thursday, when everyone was evacuating," Bristol said. "Then it was quiet, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Now they're going home."

The Turnpike rest area was a rare oasis for thirsty SUVs and sedans. Hundreds of other gas stations were closed. Many didn't have power, but some didn't have gasoline. At the rare open station, frazzled motorists waited in line for high-octane refills.

In Hillsborough County, about a dozen drivers were lined up at Temple Terrace Amoco Monday when Nazir Ali opened around 10 a.m. But unless they were looking for regular unleaded, they left empty. All other grades were gone; plastic bags covered their nozzles.

Ali said his distributor said he wouldn't get more gas until today or Wednesday.

"There were a lot of upset customers," Ali said. "People like to go shopping at the last moment. They don't see the stuff they need, and they start cursing."

At Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, state troopers escorted trucks from tanker berths to service stations. Some cruise ship passengers stayed at sea longer than scheduled because gas tankers had first priority for port access.

Gasoline worries were partly the reason Florida State University called off classes today for its 38,000 students and 5,000 faculty and staff.

"We're just trying to heed the governor's advice that not a lot of people be out on the road," FSU spokeswoman Browning Brooks said.

Gov. Jeb Bush signed an executive order Sunday giving the state new power to control the flow of fuel and giving priority to rescue workers and military personnel. But no executive order could restore electricity to seaports, and Tampa and Jacksonville struggled with power problems.

At Port Everglades, the fuel distribution point for a 12-county region stretching from Key West to Orlando, the juice was flowing, and so was the gas.

To get as much fuel to customers as possible, tank levels were allowed to drop to a level below what federal environmental rules allow, said state environmental Secretary Colleen Castille.

Larry Strain, a Port Everglades official, said August's 8-cent gas tax break contributed to the tight supply. Many motorists topped off their tanks in the days before Frances arrived, he said.

"People were filling up to save the 8 cents (per gallon). That drained the inventory," Strain said. "Then the hurricane came along and you have a lot of requests in the mix. ... But everything is flowing now."

Quoting figures from the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association, Castille said Floridians consume an average 26.5-million gallons of gas and diesel a day.

She said 125-million gallons are in tankers waiting to tie up at ports, and 45.5-million gallons already are in tanks.

A fresh supply of gas arrived at the Shell station at 34th Street N and Fifth Avenue N in St. Petersburg. "People have been coming in and out all day, because the gas station across from us doesn't have any gas," said employee Terri Morgan. "They're happy. They've been traveling for a long time, and they finally find a place that has gas."

Times staff writer Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report.