Florida gas shortages could persist for a month after Irma

Drained gas stations in Florida, a byproduct of the havoc wreaked by Hurricanes Irma and Harvey in the past two weeks, could persist for another month.

Almost all of Florida’s metropolitan areas -- with the exception of Pensacola -- are facing about 60% of gas stations being without gas, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on ‘Varney & Co.’

“Now throw in the fact that a lot of Southern Florida doesn’t have power,” he said, “And you have a real struggle here.”

Part of the reason the shortage is so extreme is because Hurricane Harvey, when it swept through Texas with unprecedented amounts of rainfall, shut down major Gulf Coast oil refineries, he said. On Tuesday, six refineries restarted production.

In the meantime, crews as far away as Missouri have been coming in and providing Florida with the necessities, DeHaan, who’s stationed in Tallahassee, Fla., said.

Hurricane Irma, which made landfall in Florida early Sunday, knocked out power for roughly 15 million people and left six people dead in Florida and at least 35 dead in the Caribbean.