close
close

Hurricane Milton tears apart roof of Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field | Tampa Bay Rays

Hurricane Milton tears apart roof of Tampa Bay Rays' Tropicana Field | Tampa Bay Rays

The home stadium of MLB's Tampa Bay Rays suffered extensive damage as Hurricane Milton tore through Florida on Wednesday evening.

Most of the fabric covering Tropicana Field's dome was torn away during the Category 3 storm, and photos and videos from social media showed the interior of the stadium clearly visible through the gaps.

There were no reported injuries at the scene, according to WFTS-TV in Tampa. The stadium was used as a shelter for first responders in advance of the storm. On Tuesday, there were rows of cots on the Rays' artificial turf for emergency responders to use, but workers were moved on Wednesday ahead of the storm.

According to the Rays, the roof at Tropicana Field was designed to withstand winds of up to 115 miles per hour. The maximum sustained wind speed when Milton made landfall about 35 miles south of the stadium was 120 miles per hour. The stadium opened in 1990 and initially cost $138 million. It is scheduled to be replaced by a $1.3 billion baseball stadium in time for the 2028 season. The Rays did not make the MLB playoffs and are not expected to play at home until March 2025.

Milton caused several sporting events in Florida to be postponed. An NBA preseason game scheduled for Friday in Orlando between the Magic and New Orleans Pelicans was canceled before Milton even reached the state.

“There are always things bigger than the game of basketball and we have to keep that in mind,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “Knowing that there are families, homes and situations that are going through a difficult time right now, we need to be aware and aware of that.”

The NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers play in New Orleans this weekend. Their next home game is scheduled for Monday, October 21st.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *