Fuel sites open in Bradenton, St. Pete while crews assess nearly $153M in damage

BRADENTON, Fla. (WFLA) — The State of Florida Division of Emergency Management has opened temporary fuel sites in Manatee and Pinellas County.

Manatee County

Fuel and food

A temporary fuel site opened at Bennett Park, located at 400 Cypress Creek Blvd. in Bradenton. Fuel supply is limited and there is a limit per vehicle.

If you need food, there are several sites throughout the county distributing water and ready-to-eat meals. You can search for a location near you here .

Traffic light repairs

Crews have been repairing traffic lights in the county and as of Saturday morning, 120 are working again — 25 are in flash mode and 34 are running on generator power.

There are still 130 traffic lights that are not working, so drivers are reminded to treat those intersections as if they are four-way stops.

Drivers should also be aware of workers on the road and drive carefully.

Damage to homes and businesses

Throughout the county, damage assessment teams have been surveying the storm’s aftermath. They have 45% of the initial inspection completed.

They’ve determined 19 homes are destroyed, 536 have major damage, 1,112 have minor damage and 2,259 are affected.

They estimate there is $136,569,705 in residential damage and $16,347,035 in commercial damage.

Pinellas County

The city of St. Petersburg also opened a free fuel distribution site on Saturday from now until 7 p.m.

The site is located at 800 1st Ave. S. and residents can enter from 1st Ave. S. and receive up to 10 gallons.

Due to the shortage of fuel, the city said to expect delays and traffic between MLK St. and Central Ave. to be backed up. If you do not need gas, please avoid the area.

This comes on the heels of major fuel shortages across Tampa Bay. Fuel tankers left Port Tampa Bay Friday evening to begin distributing gasoline to stations in the area.

Click here on where to find gas near you .

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