Where To Find Gas In Tampa Bay Area: Hurricane Ian Evacuation

TAMPA, FL — Hundreds of thousands of Tampa-area residents are hitting the roads after an evacuation order was issued Monday in preparation for Hurricane Ian's imminent landfall in Florida.

As many as 300,000 people could be evacuated from low-lying areas in Hillsborough County alone, county administrator Bonnie Wise said. Some of those evacuations began Monday afternoon in the most vulnerable areas. Others may leave simply as a precaution ahead of the storm, which officials say may drop a foot of rain in some areas and inundate Tampa Bay with storm surge of 10 to 15 feet.

As Floridians pack up their cars and prepare to head to higher ground, they may encounter another problem: they can't find gas to fill their tanks.

• READ MORE: Hurricane Ian 'The Real Deal,' FL Meteorologist Says Of Growing Storm

GasBuddy.com has activated its fuel availability tracker ahead of the storm to help drivers locate stations that still have gas, a tool that's proved useful as Floridians head to safety.

Motorists can search by city or zip code to see which stations still have gasoline and diesel in supply. Once the storm hits, the tracker will also indicate whether a station still has power.

While the website can be a bit tricky to navigate, the following links will take travelers directly to a list of gas stations in several Florida communities.

• Fuel availability in Tampa
• Fuel availability in St. Petersburg
• Fuel availability in Clearwater
• Fuel availability in Sarasota
• Fuel availability in Bradenton
• Fuel availability in Orlando
• Fuel availability in Miami

If you want to use GasBuddy on the road, download the mobile app for the latest information on where fuel is available.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said it may become increasingly difficult to find fuel as Hurricane Ian nears, WUSF reported.

"When the storm is coming, close, hitting, there's going to be some interruption to that, so people should be prepared for that," DeSantis said. "We have some contracts with people who can bring some fuel in, if necessary, and we'll have to see if that is the case. We've not had to do that I don't think, in the past."