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Hurricane Milton: Roof at Rays’ Tropicana Field is ripped off as the storm makes landfall in Tampa
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Hurricane Milton: Roof at Rays’ Tropicana Field is ripped off as the storm makes landfall in Tampa

The roof of Tropicana Field was quickly destroyed when Hurricane Milton made landfall in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday.

The storm, which reached Category 5 status over the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week, barreled into Florida’s west coast on Wednesday. Within a few hours, large chunks of the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays’ home began to come off.

The Rays said before the storm hit that the stadium was not being used as a shelter for residents but was set up as a staging area for first responders. According to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, no injuries were reported as of Wednesday evening.

The roof, according to the team’s media guide, is made of “two hectares of translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass and supports itself with 300 kilometers of cables connected to struts.” It is designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 180 km/h.

Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was also quickly flooded with water. Unlike Tropicana Field, the stadium does not have a roof. The Buccaneers are on the road this week and left town early to avoid the hurricane.

Hurricane Milton formed over the Gulf of Mexico in recent days and quickly reached Category 5 status. It made landfall near Sarasota, Florida, as a Category 3 storm. Forecasters warned that storm surge could reach as high as 13 feet in some areas in the Tampa Bay region, prompting dire warnings from officials in the days leading up to the storm.

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor even warned residents of mandatory evacuation zones that staying put would lead to certain death.

“I can say without any dramatization: if you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you will die,” Castor said on CNN.

According to The New York Times, more than 1.6 million Floridians were without power as of Wednesday evening, and there were more than two dozen reports of tornadoes or tornado-related damage across the state.

Tropicana Field is located in St. Petersburg, Florida, just across the bay from Tampa. It opened in 1990 and seats more than 42,700 fans. The baseball field is the only one in the league with a fixed roof.

Raymond James Stadium is located in Tampa. It opened in 1998 and can accommodate approximately 75,000 people.

Hurricane Milton is expected to leave the east coast of Florida by Thursday morning.