Tropicana Field lost most of its roof Wednesday night time as Hurricane Milton got here and introduced winds as much as 120 mph to elements of Florida.
The St. Petersburg, Fla., stadium is the house of the Tampa Bay Rays. Its dome roof — which was constructed of enormous, triangular panels product of fiberglass and coated with Teflon — was largely shredded, with some sections lacking solely, exposing the within of the one Major League Baseball stadium with a roof that isn’t retractable.
It was not instantly clear if there was vital harm contained in the constructing.
The Rays mentioned solely important personnel have been contained in the ballpark, and all of them have been secure.
“We’re lucky and grateful that nobody was damage by the harm to our ballpark final night time,” the Rays mentioned in an announcement Thursday. “Over the approaching days and weeks, we anticipate to have the ability to assess the true situation of Tropicana Discipline. Within the meantime, we’re working with legislation enforcement to safe the constructing.”
Earlier this week, the Florida Division of Emergency Administration mentioned the stadium can be used as “a ten,000-person base camp at Tropicana Discipline to assist ongoing particles operations and post-landfall responders.” Rows of cots had been set up inside the ballpark, however all staff and tools have been eliminated after it was realized the roof may not keep intact below the pressure of Milton’s winds.
“Because it turned clear that there was going to be one thing of that magnitude that was going to be inside the distance, they redeployed them out of Tropicana,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis instructed reporters Thursday. “There have been no state assets that were in Tropicana Field.”
In accordance with the Rays’ 2024 media information, the stadium’s roof was designed to face up to winds as much as 115 mph.
The Rays completed the 2024 season final month with an 80-82 report. The group introduced plans final 12 months to construct a brand new $1.3-billion stadium adjoining to the 34-year-old Tropicana Field, with hopes of transferring there by the 2028 season.
Video out of Tampa on Wednesday night time confirmed flooding on the field at the open-roof Raymond James Stadium, house of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NCAA soccer program the College of South Florida Bulls. The Buccaneers left Tuesday for his or her sport in New Orleans on Sunday.
Earlier this week, South Florida postponed its scheduled home game against Memphis from Friday night time to Saturday afternoon. On Thursday, the American Athletic Convention introduced the sport’s location had been modified to Tenting World Stadium in Orlando.
The convention mentioned in a statement: “The choice to maneuver the sport from Raymond James Stadium was made in session with native legislation enforcement within the curiosity of public security and with respect for the response and restoration efforts underway within the Tampa Bay space along with logistical challenges associated to the storm that affected each colleges.
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