Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) Tuesday evening declared a state of emergency and activated the Florida National Guard amid a gas shortage that is wreaking havoc along the eastern seaboard.
The order, which directs state officials to work with the federal government and loosens restrictions for truckers from out of state to bring gasoline into Florida, is in effect after a group of hackers called DarkSide executed a ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline.
That company supplies about half of the gasoline on the east coast, and states from Florida to Virginia have been impacted the most.
DeSantis said that he is monitoring the situation, but that the federal government needs to step up.
“We’re monitoring this cyberattack that happened on the pipeline. That pipeline, of course, is not in Florida, but it impacts communities in Florida, particularly the northern part of the state,” he said in a Tuesday press conference. “We’re relaxing restrictions in terms of the way to be able to get more fuel trucks into the parts of Florida that need more fuel, but ultimately we really do need the federal government to step up and help.”
The Florida Panhandle, including Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Panama City have been hit the hardest by the shortage.
Alicia Devine, a photojournalist for The Tallahassee Democrat, posted a video of residents lining up to purchase gasoline.
I’ve visited five gas stations this morning and the Costco one is the first to have gas.
The line is insane. pic.twitter.com/fMfuIMNlJ7
— Alicia Devine, Photojournalist (@alicia_c_devine) May 11, 2021
The Biden administration said Tuesday that it has deferred decisions on how to proceed to Colonial Pipeline, which is a private company, but the Department of Transportation (DOT) has relaxed restrictions on the number of hours drivers are allowed to drive per day, in order to help facilitate the delivery of gasoline supply to effected areas.
The company is expected to decide how it will proceed Wednesday.
Tuesday night, the company offered a progress report.
“Colonial Pipeline continues to make forward progress in our around-the-clock efforts to return our system to service, with additional laterals operating manually to deliver existing inventories to markets along the pipeline,” a press release said. “Markets experiencing supply constraints and/or not serviced by other fuel delivery systems are being prioritized.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
