The hunt for gasoline is adding to Floridians anxiety as Milton nears [Video]

Florida gas stations struggled to keep up with demand Tuesday as long lines and empty pumps compounded the stress for residents planning to hunker down or flee as Hurricane Milton approached the state’s western coast.Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning news conference that state officials were working with fuel companies to continue bringing in gasoline ahead of Milton’s expected landfall on Wednesday. Patrick De Haan, an analyst for GasBuddy, said “replenishments are happening, ” but about 16.5% of Florida stations were out of fuel as of Tuesday afternoon — up from 3.5% a day earlier. More than 43% of the stations in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area had no gasoline as of late Tuesday morning, according to GasBuddy.DeSantis outlined replenishment efforts during his morning news conference.“We have been dispatching fuel over the past 24 hours as gas stations have run out,” DeSantis said. “So we currently have 268,000 gallons of …