The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)
The fabric roof over the home of baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays was ripped to shreds after Hurricane Milton came ashore in Florida on Wednesday night, bringing wind gusts exceeding 100 mph and flooding parts of the state. It was not immediately clear if there was damage inside Tropicana Field, located in St. Petersburg. Television images showed the swaths that serve as the domed building’s roof were completely tattered, giving a clear line of sight to the lights that were on inside the stadium. The Rays’ stadium was not being used as a shelter, but the Tampa Bay Times reported that it was being used as “a staging site for workers” who were brought to the area to deal with the storm’s aftermath. The Rays had previously announced that they were “working with state and local emergency management partners … to aid efforts for debris removal.”
The stadium opened in 1990 and initially cost $138 million. It is due to be replaced in time for the 2028 season with a $1.3 billion ballpark. An NBA preseason game in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans, scheduled for Friday, was canceled even before Milton hit the state. The game will not be rescheduled
Comments