The Jacksonville Port Authority plans to reopen at 6 a.m. Saturday, pending approval from the U.S. Coast Guard, the authority said Friday morning.Until Coast Guard inspections are complete, the port will be closed to all traffic, the authority said.closed their waterways"Once we have been given clearance by the Coast Guard, we will return to vessel operations as soon as safely possible," a Port Tampa Bay news release said.
Fuel trucks are being allowed into Port Tampa Bay — which can help jumpstart a Florida economy put on hold due to the historic storm. The port supplies the state with almost 50% of its fuel. Almost 25% of gas stations in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metro area are out of gas, according to the latest GasBuddy data. Energy analystOrlando, however, may see increased outages, according to De Haan. The critical Central Florida pipeline didn't have its normal flow for a few days.
One silver lining with Hurricane Ian: refineries weren't cut off. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey cut off gasoline supply when it hit Texas and Louisiana and affected supply elsewheresaid in an interview."This was not really a storm that necessitated an extreme amount of planning. ... While the hurricane was devastating, gasoline was flowing into the state ahead of the storm. Ports have been shut down but once they re-open, gasoline will continue to flow.
The storm affected all parts of the supply chain. UPS lists nearly 1,000 Florida zip codes as of 2 p.m. Thursday that won't be receiving deliveries. FedEx also suspended service Wednesday in areas across the state.