Florida's Dependence on Gas Has Repeatedly Left the State Vulnerable During Natural Disasters
Irma
These are the tough realities Floridians who evacuated in the face of Hurricane Irma last week even as they begin to return home. An unprecedented six million fled from the Category 5 storm  the largest evacuation in United States history.
I took her question and others to fuel experts. A car-dependent state with a history of hurricanes  Florida had a week before Irma hit to lay in enough fuel for residents to drive out of harm's wayâthe choice mode of evacuation. But that wasn't enough time  and the reasons why add yet another dimension to the Sunshine State's deepening vulnerability to climate change.
Low-lying  peninsular Florida is in a famously precarious place. One lesser-known vulnerability that the Hurricane Irma exposed is how difficult it can be to move fuel supplies here quickly. Unlike states with more shared borders and freight infrastructure  roughly 97 percent of the refined fuel sold in Florida gets shipped in  from the Gulf of Mexico. Much of it usually come from refineries on the shores of Texasâwhich were devastated just weeks ago by the second-costliest storm in U.S. history  Hurricane Harvey.
With Texas refineries knocked out of commission because of Harvey  Florida's fuel suppliers were already feeling the squeeze before Irma's path became clear. In fact  as of the week before Labor Day  according to Jim Storey  the business development director of the Georgia-based fuel distributor Mansfield Oil  Florida was trucking some of its own supplies over there to help out Texas. But as Irma predictions shaped up  the flow of fuel out-of-state was swiftly reversed.
The weekend before Labor Day  as the degree of Irma's threat became clearer  Florida gas suppliers and emergency managers joined to strategize. They knew there would be a run on gas  though it wasn't clear yet which parts of the state would be evacuating. So fuel shipments that could be steered to Florida were diverted from all over. Barges that normally deliver from offline Gulf Coast refineries were rerouted to New York and Philadelphia to bring gas south. Tankers from Louisiana and Mississippi steamed eastward to reach Florida in time  having been delayed by Harvey's fearsome path. One oil trader redirected two European barges destined for Africa to Florida instead. According to Hillary Stevenson  director of oil market research for the analysis firm Genscape  the state took in some 570 00 barrels from Europe ahead of  Irma  in order to make up for supplies it had lost to Harvey.
"We were accepting supplies from anywhere that would send it " says James Miller  the director of communications for the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association  a trade group designated to coordinate fuel supplies with the state in the event of an emergency. "The timing of Harvey and Irma was not ideal."
Fortunately  Irma wasn't a repeat of Hurricane Rita  when dozens died trying to evacuate on Houston's traffic-clogged  gas-less roads in 2005. Florida's transportation officials coordinated this evacuation remarkably well. The state was spared catastrophic damage when Irma's path veered from the biggest population center.
While many gas chains  companies  and government agencies buy fuel at contract-bound prices  others buy it "on the spot" at whatever the going rate. That price  says Stevenson  increased by 26 cents per gallon ahead of Irma. As of Tuesday  the average price of a gallon is $2.71 in Florida  up more than 44 cents from last month. (That price increase is also due in part to Harvey-related fuel shortages.)
This week  as evacuees try to head home  Florida gas stations are still scrambling to refuel. Florida's ports had to shut down while Irma tore through the state  which means incoming shipments are now running on a delay. Now three of them are back online  but with Houston refineries still incapacitated  meeting gas demand is going to be a challenge for some time. Oil shipments are coming in  but the lights are still out at multiple fuel terminals. Many gas stations remain without power too.
It might be another week before Florida's stations are topped off and back in business  but those recovery efforts could be hampered if Hurricane Jose veers towards a U.S. landfall. "Pardon the cliche  but this was all a perfect storm  with Harvey preceding  Irma " Stevenson  says. Now  the window to get Florida running again before the next hit might already be closing.
 Irma  is not the last climate change-juiced hurricane Florida will experience: More storms  and more evacuations  loom in its future. Harvey and Irma's back-to-back blows highlight just how fragile the state's position in the global oil supply chain isâand how profoundly the state  like the rest of the country  relies on this limited (and not readily portable) resource. In transit-deficient South Florida  personal vehicles remain the default mode of evacuation for most of the population. If there is not enough gas for themâand if other climate-related disasters are affecting supplyâthere ought to be other  more gas-efficient ways of getting out.
That would have left more gas  that most precious emergency commodity  to go around. And there would have been fewer tailpipes spewing the emissions that are fueling climate changeâand sharpening the teeth on storms like  Irma .
These are the tough realities Floridians who evacuated in the face of  [TGT]  last week even as they begin to return home. An unprecedented six million fled from the Category 5 storm  the largest evacuation in United States history.
I took her question and others to fuel experts. A car-dependent state with a history of hurricanes  Florida had a week before  [TGT]  hit to lay in enough fuel for residents to drive out of harm's wayâthe choice mode of evacuation. But that wasn't enough time  and the reasons why add yet another dimension to the Sunshine State's deepening vulnerability to climate change.
Low-lying  peninsular Florida is in a famously precarious place. One lesser-known vulnerability that  [TGT]  exposed is how difficult it can be to move fuel supplies here quickly. Unlike states with more shared borders and freight infrastructure  roughly 97 percent of the refined fuel sold in Florida gets shipped in  from the Gulf of Mexico. Much of it usually come from refineries on the shores of Texasâwhich were devastated just weeks ago by the second-costliest storm in U.S. history  Hurricane Harvey.
With Texas refineries knocked out of commission because of Harvey  Florida's fuel suppliers were already feeling the squeeze before Irma's path became clear. In fact  as of the week before Labor Day  according to Jim Storey  the business development director of the Georgia-based fuel distributor Mansfield Oil  Florida was trucking some of its own supplies over there to help out Texas. But as Irma predictions shaped up  the flow of fuel out-of-state was swiftly reversed.
The weekend before Labor Day  as the degree of Irma's threat became clearer  Florida gas suppliers and emergency managers joined to strategize. They knew there would be a run on gas  though it wasn't clear yet which parts of the state would be evacuating. So fuel shipments that could be steered to Florida were diverted from all over. Barges that normally deliver from offline Gulf Coast refineries were rerouted to New York and Philadelphia to bring gas south. Tankers from Louisiana and Mississippi steamed eastward to reach Florida in time  having been delayed by Harvey's fearsome path. One oil trader redirected two European barges destined for Africa to Florida instead. According to Hillary Stevenson  director of oil market research for the analysis firm Genscape  the state took in some 570 00 barrels from Europe ahead of  Irma  in order to make up for supplies it had lost to Harvey.
"We were accepting supplies from anywhere that would send it " says James Miller  the director of communications for the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association  a trade group designated to coordinate fuel supplies with the state in the event of an emergency. "The timing of Harvey and Irma was not ideal."
Fortunately  Irma wasn't a repeat of Hurricane Rita  when dozens died trying to evacuate on Houston's traffic-clogged  gas-less roads in 2005. Florida's transportation officials coordinated this evacuation remarkably well. The state was spared catastrophic damage when Irma's path veered from the biggest population center.
While many gas chains  companies  and government agencies buy fuel at contract-bound prices  others buy it "on the spot" at whatever the going rate. That price  says Stevenson  increased by 26 cents per gallon ahead of Irma. As of Tuesday  the average price of a gallon is $2.71 in Florida  up more than 44 cents from last month. (That price increase is also due in part to Harvey-related fuel shortages.)
This week  as evacuees try to head home  Florida gas stations are still scrambling to refuel. Florida's ports had to shut down while  [TGT]  tore through the state  which means incoming shipments are now running on a delay. Now three of them are back online  but with Houston refineries still incapacitated  meeting gas demand is going to be a challenge for some time. Oil shipments are coming in  but the lights are still out at multiple fuel terminals. Many gas stations remain without power too.
It might be another week before Florida's stations are topped off and back in business  but those recovery efforts could be hampered if Hurricane Jose veers towards a U.S. landfall. "Pardon the cliche  but this was all a perfect storm  with Harvey preceding   [TGT]  " Stevenson  says. Now  the window to get Florida running again before the next hit might already be closing.
  [TGT] is not the last climate change-juiced hurricane Florida will experience: More storms  and more evacuations  loom in  [TGT]  future. Harvey and Irma's back-to-back blows highlight just how fragile the state's position in the global oil supply chain isâand how profoundly the state  like the rest of the country  relies on this limited (and not readily portable) resource. In transit-deficient South Florida  personal vehicles remain the default mode of evacuation for most of the population. If there is not enough gas for themâand if other climate-related disasters are affecting supplyâthere ought to be other  more gas-efficient ways of getting out.
That would have left more gas  that most precious emergency commodity  to go around. And there would have been fewer tailpipes spewing the emissions that are fueling climate changeâand sharpening the teeth on storms like  [TGT]  .