Tampa, St. Petersburg slammed with 100 mph wind from Hurricane Milton, damaging Tropicana Field
St. Petersburg's airport reported more than three hours of gusts over 70 mph, including seven gusts over 90 mph and a peak gust of 101 mph just after 10:30 p.m. ET.
Hurricane Milton shreds Tropicana Field roof in St. Petersburg, Florida
Ferocious winds from Hurricane Milton caused significant damage to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where video showed massive tears in the stadium's roof. The facility is home to the Tampa Bay Rays. (Courtesy: @Zachab29 / X)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Hurricane Milton slammed the Tampa-St. Petersburg area with over 100 mph wind gusts and torrential rain Wednesday, knocking out power to well over a million in the metro area and damaging the home of the city's baseball team.
St. Petersburg's airport reported more than three hours of gusts over 70 mph, including seven gusts over 90 mph and a peak gust of 101 mph just after 10:30 p.m. ET. Tampa International Airport recorded a peak gust of 93 mph so far.
The ferocious winds caused significant damage to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, where video showed massive tears in the stadium's fabric roof. The facility is home to the Tampa Bay Rays.
![Hurricane-force winds rip roof off of Tropicana Field.]()
Image 1 of 4Hurricane-force winds rip roof off of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Zach Abernathy)
![Hurricane-force winds rip roof off of Tropicana Field.]()
Image 2 of 4Hurricane-force winds rip roof off of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Zach Abernathy)
![Hurricane-force winds rip roof off of Tropicana Field.]()
Image 3 of 4Hurricane-force winds rip roof off of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Zach Abernathy)
![Crane damage in St. Petersburg]()
Image 4 of 4Crane damage in St. Petersburg (YIMBY St. Pete via FOX 13 Tampa)
Tropicana Field was being used as a temporary staging location for hundreds of first responders. According to local authorities, there were no reports of any injuries associated with the damage to the stadium.
Also in St. Petersburg, a construction crane collapsed at the 400 Central building, according to FOX 13 Tampa. There are no reports of any injuries there either. A witness told FOX 13 that she believes it fell on the Tampa Bay Times building.
Crane damage in St. Petersburg
(YIMBY St. Pete via FOX 13 Tampa / FOX Weather)
The crane fell off of a building that had been under construction for about two years and would be the tallest building in St. Petersburg, FOX 13 said.
Adding to the woes, St. Petersburg shut down its drinking water at midnight Thursday morning due to a major water main break. The shutoff will remain until weather conditions subside enough for crews to begin repairs, city officials said.
But Tampa Bay Water asked all residents to conserve water throughout the metro area due to widespread power outages.
Power outages reached over 1.25 million customers just in Hillsborough and Pinellas County alone, according to PowerOutage.us.
Torrential rains, hurricane-force winds slam Tampa area from Milton
FOX Weather Meteorologist Steve Bender reports from Tampa where gusts over 80 mph have left over 1 million in the metro area without power and a Flash Flood Emergency amid several inches of rain.
Milton roared onshore just south of the St. Petersburg area in Siesta Key on Wednesday evening as a major Category 3 storm. But while the southern landfall spared the area from a feared record storm surge in Tampa Bay, flooding became an issue anyway as Milton dumped several inches of rain in minutes.
A Flash Flood Emergency covered 2 million people in the metro area. Over 5 inches of rain fell in one hour in St. Petersburg’s Albert Whitted Airport, over 10 inches in 3.5 hours, and 18 inches in 24 hours.
"This is a particularly dangerous situation," the National Weather Service warned. "Seek higher ground now!"
Updates to follow.