Hurricane Milton rips roof of Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium as devastating winds batter Florida

The brutal winds of Hurricane Milton has ripped the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays' Major League Baseball stadium Tropicana Field on Wednesday as the the storm continues to batter the Sunshine State.

Milton made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida, on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said. It is a barrier island off Sarasota with white-sand beaches and has about 5,500 residents. The community is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of Tampa. While the city did not take a direct hit, Hurricane Milton was still producing deadly storm surge and powerful winds in the area.

While the team may be bear the name of the city of Tampa Bay the stadium actually sits in nearby St. Petersburg. A large portion of the domed roof was ripped off the top of the stadium but the steal structure remained intact. The stadium was being used as a staging area for first responders but according to St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue nobody was inside the building at the time the roof was ripped off, local ABC Action News Tampa Bay reported.

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Pictures were seen of the stadium prior to Miltons landfall and showed thousands of cots set up on the playing field but Action News Tampa Bay reports that those were cleared before the roof was torn off. Rain from Milton poured into the stadium as considerable damage to the already aging field is likely to extend beyond the roof. The images conjured memories of New Orleans' famous Superdome being severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The Rays did not quality for the postseason this year so there won't be any baseball games played in the stadium until at least next April when the new baseball season begins.

Amazing enough, despite its roof being essentially gone, the stadium still seemed to have power as many of the exterior lights remained on as of 11:30 p.m. EST. Milton is still producing sustained winds of 105 mph as it weakens moving across central Florida.

St. Petersburg alone experienced peak gusts of 102 mph with sustained gusts of 95 mph, according to Action News Tampa Bay. Nearby to the stadium a construction crane fell into a condo building at 400 Central Ave, according to Fox13 News. The city has reported that nobody was injured during the incident.

According to Fox13, the crane fell off a building that has been under construction for more than two years and when completed is expected to be the tallest building in St. Petersburg.