Some Florida Residents Face Long Gas Lines After Hurricane Ian
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — The parking lot of a Wawa convenience store here was transformed into a sea of red gasoline cans on Saturday
as hundreds of residents waited for hours in hopes of powering generators and cars after the city, about 30 miles northwest of Fort Myers, was battered by Hurricane Ian.
The store, one of only a few purveyors of gas that had reopened since Wednesday’s storm, corralled cars into a line that stretched for more than a mile along a suburban road.
One woman was pushing her van, which appeared to have run out of gas, as the line inched forward. Hundreds more people arrived carrying empty gas cans or pushing them in wheelbarrows.
“This is the furthest I’ve gotten,” said Mark Eidys, who had waited in his truck for hours on two other days but had to leave before ever reaching the pumps.
On Saturday, he tried a new strategy: joining the walk-up line and bringing a lawn chair, as well as three gas cans.
As the line grew longer under the beating sun, several people fumed that much of the national attention appeared to be focused on wealthier areas like Naples or Cape Coral.
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