TAMPA, Fla. — As Tropical Storm Helene continues on its path toward the Florida coast, it's important for residents to be able to know where they can get gas for their cars.
The storm is expected to intensify into a hurricane sometime Wednesday. Ahead of the storm making landfall, GasBuddy has activated an interactive tracker for those in Florida, Georgia and Alabama to see what gas stations are running low or are out of fuel.
GasBuddy, a company that aims to help connect customers with fuel savings, said users can use the tracker to report when gas stations are low or out of fuel to help other gas-seekers know where to go. The tracker can be downloaded on both iPhone and Android devices or accessed online at tracker.gasbuddy.com.
As of Wednesday morning, the average gas price in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area is $3.20 per gallon for regular, up from $3.16 on Tuesday, according to AAA. That's still down from a month ago when a gallon of regular fuel cost an average of $3.29. AAA said the statewide gas price average as of Wednesday is $3.17 per gallon.
You can keep an eye on Tampa area gas prices with 10 Tampa Bay's gas price page.
The storm is expected to "rapidly strengthen" into a major hurricane on Thursday ahead of landfall, according to the National Hurricane Center.
"Helene's large size will likely cause an extensive area to be affected by the storm's hazard, the NHC wrote.
The first rain bands are expected to hit late Wednesday.