Officials hope lessons learned from Irma will make gassing up easier

Keeping gas pumping is critical as a storm approaches, but gassing up may take you longer.

There was already a long line at the Costco gas pumps in Brandon Thursday.

"I had to wait for 45 minutes," said Cesar DeJesus, "It's looking pretty nasty out there so we've got to get ready."

We met Richard Rioles filling containers with gas at a Wawa on Dale Mabry.

"Gas for my generator, just to be on the cautious side," he told us.

Floridians remember the mass evacuation ahead of Hurricane Irma when gas supplies in some areas couldn't keep up with the millions of people in their cars evacuating.

The governor wants to avoid the same mess. He declared a state of emergency ahead of Dorian.

"One of the things the state of emergency allows us to do is to get more fuel into gas stations," said Governor Ron DeSantis. 

Port Tampa Bay is critical in supplying gasoline.

"Facilities there not only support Tampa but also the Orlando market and with calm seas in the gulf right now that's allowing us to traverse the Gulf Of Mexico," said David Mica, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council.

Mica said tanker truck drivers can work longer and trucks can haul more fuel under the state of emergency.

"The good news right now is that we are unimpeded and operating at full throttle," said Mica. 

Full throttle is what it may take to meet the needs of Floridians gassing up ahead of Dorian. 

LINK: Download our Hurricane Prep Shopping List here.

Hurricane Dorian preparations:

- Citrus County
- DeSoto County
- Hardee County
- Hernando County
- Highlands County
- Hillsborough County
- Manatee County
- Pasco County
- Pinellas County
- Polk County
- Sarasota County
- Sumter County