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Hurricane Milton rips off the roof of Tropicana Field as 125 mph winds hit Florida
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Hurricane Milton rips off the roof of Tropicana Field as 125 mph winds hit Florida

Tropicana Field lost most of its roof Wednesday evening when Hurricane Milton came through, bringing winds of up to 120 miles per hour to parts of Florida.

The St. Petersburg, Florida, stadium is home to the Tampa Bay Rays. The dome roof – which was constructed of large, triangular panels made of fiberglass and coated with Teflon – was largely shredded, with some parts missing entirely, exposing the inside of the only Major League Baseball stadium with a roof that is not retractable.

It was not immediately clear if there was significant damage to the building.

The Rays said only essential personnel were in the stadium, and all were safe.

Earlier this week, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said the stadium would be used as “a 10,000-person base camp at Tropicana Field to support ongoing debris operations and post-landing responders.” Rows of beds had been set up in the ballpark, but all workers and equipment were removed after it became known that the roof might not remain intact under the force of Milton’s winds.

“When it became clear that there was going to be something of that size that was going to be within the distance, they moved them from Tropicana,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters on Thursday. “There were no government properties at Tropicana Field.”

According to the Rays’ 2024 media guide, the stadium’s roof was designed to withstand winds of up to 115 mph.

The Rays finished the 2024 season last month with an 80-82 record. The team announced plans last year to build a new $1.3 billion stadium next to the 34-year-old Tropicana Field, with hopes of moving there by the 2028 season.