Hurricane Milton made landfall on the west coast of Florida on Wednesday. The storm, which became an ultra-powerful Category 5 hurricane as it sat in the Gulf of Mexico, was classified as a “dangerous Category 3” by the time that it hit the state, according to the National Hurricane Center.
One of the areas that was projected to get hit especially hard was Tampa, as the metropolitan area was directly in the path of the storm. In an effort to get out in front of the potential destruction, a tweet went around showing cots were set up throughout the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, Tropicana Field, where first responders and other emergency personnel would set up shop before clean up efforts began. But after the storm hit the city, videos immediately started to hit the internet of the roof at the Trop getting torn apart, and in the aftermath, drone footage showed that the roof was ripped almost entirely off.
The good news is that ABC News got in touch with Capt. Garth Swingle of St. Petersburg Fire Rescue, who informed them that the people who were inside the stadium were safe. Earlier this year, the St. Petersburg City Council approved a plan for a new ballpark that is scheduled to open in 2028.
