Southwest Florida residents struggle to find gas ahead of Hurricane Helene

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

Southwest Florida had many drivers scrambling to find gas ahead of Hurricane Helene. NBC2 found several people in Fort Myers who said their tank wasn't empty, but they were filling it up just in case they need to evacuate.

Serg Collin, a Fort Myers resident, told NBC2 that it took him four tries to find a gas station that had gas available.

"I went to Sam’s Club because it’s the cheapest gas around, obviously, and I couldn’t get any gas there. The place is packed, but the waiting time probably now about an hour, maybe more.

Collin told NBC2 he's doing last-minute errands, preparing for Hurricane Helene.
"If worse comes worse, I am ready to take off. I got two kind of big dogs, and I’m concerned about their life," he said.

John Chase stopped at the Marathon gas station along Fowler Street and Carrell Road because there were no gas stations he could stop at in Cape Coral.

"There’s a lot of gas stations that I passed that had all the pumps were being used. You can definitely tell people are starting to scramble and I don’t want to be one of those last-minute people, you know? I don’t want to be looking for gas tomorrow," said Chase.