PALMETTO – With gasoline shortages at local stations following Hurricane Milton, welcome news came from SeaPort Manatee as the port resumed fuel distributions to southwest and central Florida on Sunday, Oct. 13.
“Thanks to cooperative efforts between Manatee County, state and federal authorities and industry partners, fuel distribution activities have resumed at SeaPort Manatee as of this morning,” Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority, stated in an Oct. 13 press release from SeaPort Manatee Director of Communications and Public Relations Virginia Zimmermann.
As power restoration began at Manatee County’s seaport, limited landside cargo operations resumed. Per U.S. Coast Guard direction, waterside operations resumed during daylight hours with shipping channel activity limited to a single direction, the release stated.
“SeaPort Manatee is a critical gateway for supplying fuel stations throughout our region and beyond, with a flow of nearly 400 million gallons a year,” said Carlos Buqueras, SeaPort Manatee’s executive director. “It is particularly crucial that we have been able to see resumption of this fuel supply at a time when our area has been hit by two hurricanes in such a short period of time.”
While in Cortez on Oct. 11 with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, FEMA Executive Director Kevin Guthrie told The Sun that generators and gas are being sent to gas stations. He called getting power back on at those stations a number one priority.
“If they don’t have generators, they may have fuel, but they can’t power it,” DeSantis added. “Any interruption of supply from the port here, we’re also working on that.”
