Spotty fuel outages as South Carolina evacuates

South Carolina began to report isolated fuel outages as an estimated 1 million residents were ordered to evacuate the coast ahead of Hurricane Florence.

Fuel distributors continued to find product at their usual terminals for gasoline and diesel, South Carolina Petroleum Marketer's Association executive director Michael Fields said. But stations began reporting increased demand and brief outages as the storm approached with 130 mph sustained winds and the threat of torrential rain.

"We saw, last night, a heavy strain on supply, no question about it," Fields said. "We just have to make sure we do everything we can to keep fuel in the ground."

Hurricane Florence was south of Bermuda today and on track to reach the Carolinas early 14 September, according to the National Weather Service. The storm's sustained wind speeds made Florence a category 4 storm, the second strongest level of hurricane.

No major refiners or fuel ports operate in the path of the storm. But Florence could disrupt power to the Colonial and Plantation refined products pipelines passing through the mid-Atlantic. Colonial connects US Gulf coast refiners to the New York Harbor Market.

South Carolina governor Henry McMaster issued a mandatory evacuation of the coast effective noon EST today. North Carolina governor Roy Cooper issued evacuation orders for coastal counties earlier yesterday.

South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia have all waived trucking requirements and other regulatory restrictions to assist fueling in the states.

"Everything is in place for us to keep supply flowing," Fields said. "We just have to do our very best to do that."