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As Hurricane Milton tears through parts of Florida this week, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays has been hit.
A video captured on Wednesday showed the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg being torn apart by powerful winds.
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The Tropicana Field roof has come off during Hurricane Milton
The ballpark was being used as shelter for first responders pic.twitter.com/tBcrESzYdu
Milton made landfall on Wednesday evening in Tampa Bay and has already seen wind speeds up to 110 mph. The Category 2 hurricane has brought 10-14 inches of rain and is only supposed to continue throughout the night.
In the days leading up to the powerful hurricane, Tropicana Field was set up as a shelter for thousands of first responders and the National Guard. Unfortunately, the damage to the roof will likely make the shelter unusable. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported that city officials said there have been no injuries as a result of Wednesday night’s damage.
The stadium, which opened in 1990, was designed with a slanted roof in hopes of better protecting the stadium from hurricane damage. Though it has survived many powerful hurricanes over the years, the intense winds from Milton proved to be too much for the Trop.
While the safety of those being lodged at Tropicana Field will be the first priority, rebuilding the roof will likely take months of effort. Fortunately, that won’t impact the Rays soon as their season is already over, but the stadium hosts a number of other events that could be affected.
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