Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., shown here Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, had been turned into a 10,000-person camp to support rescue operations. Video showed its roof fabric blowing in the storm. (Ted Richardson for The Washington Post)
The roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., was torn apart late Wednesday as Hurricane Milton unleashed powerful winds across the area, also taking down trees and toppling a construction crane.
The local government said in a statement that no injuries were reported at the field, but it urged the public to avoid the area until further notice and continue to shelter in place. Milton made landfall near Sarasota on Wednesday night as a Category 3 hurricane and left millions of customers without power as it barreled across the Florida peninsula, according to PowerOutage.us.
Before the storm, the Florida Division of Emergency Management turned Tropicana Field into a 10,000-person base camp “to support ongoing debris operations and post-landfall responders,” a Tuesday statement from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said. An image, circulated by a Florida news station this week, showed the arena packed with cots.
Nicknamed “The Trop,” the 1.1-million-square-foot, multipurpose stadium is home to the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. The ballpark’s roof was built to withstand winds of up to 115 mph, the team’s media guide says, describing it as “the world’s largest cable-supported domed roof.”
But footage of Tropicana Field, shared on social media by former NFL tight end Dave Moore, who was riding out the storm nearby, shows bright lights on the inside of the arena exposed and shredded roof fabric blowing in the wind.
“Praying for Tampa Bay and all areas affected. Stay safe, everyone,” Moore wrote.
For some, Tropicana Field’s damage recalled the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when winds shredded the roof of New Orleans’s Superdome, where more than 20,000 people were sheltering, allowing rain to pour inside. Before the storm, the roof was believed to be equipped to withstand winds of 200 mph, according to the AP.
As climate change increases the intensity of hurricanes, wildfires and floods, stadiums are expected to become vital resources for communities, making Tropicana Field’s roof damage particularly noteworthy. In September, The Washington Post reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the NFL are working together to transform football stadiums across the United States into emergency shelters and other venues needed during disasters.
Some commenters online tried to make light of the situation in St. Petersburg on Wednesday night. Poking fun at the Tampa Bay Rays’ less than stellar performance in recent seasons, one commenter on Instagram wrote: “Not even the roof wanted to see another TB Rays season.”
