PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — Governor Ron Desantis visited Pensacola Thursday and saw the flooding and damage then addressed the media at the Pensacola International Airport.

He said trucks are bringing in gasoline from Louisiana.

At the Circle K at Gregory Street and 9th Avenue, an employee told WKRG News 5 things got out of hand and they had to call in police to keep the peace.

At the Raceway at Davis Highway and Brent Lane, they had just run out of gas but frustration turned into happiness when Ariel Sawyer saw the gas truck pull up. Her car ran out of gas down the street and a stranger gave her a ride to the gas station.

“The nice lady in this red car brought us up here..We don’t even know them,” Sawyer said.

Gov. Desantis said he believes it’s not a gas shortage but it’s more about getting the power restored so more stations can pump the gas they do have.

“We want to get power on as expeditiously as possible,” he said.

The governor also got a bird’s eye view of the flooding.

He later addressed the media talking about the Three Mile Bridge that was closed after a construction barge got loose and crashed into it. News 5 asked whether or not the contractor, Skanska, was negligent by not securing the barge. He says FDOT is looking into it.

“I think in this situation..it was probably a belief that it wasn’t necessary and whether that was done appropriately or not..people will look at it..but clearly, it’s done a lot of damage.”

The Garcon Point Bridge is now being used instead of the Three Mile Bridge. The governor signed an order waiving the toll on that bridge but that’s set to expire Friday. Sen. Doug Broxson said he expects the governor to extend the order to keep the toll waived.

LATEST STORIES