A general view of Tropicana Field. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Watch: Hurricane Milton's winds tear roof off Rays' Tropicana Field

By Austen Bundy | Last updated 10/10/24

Hurricane Milton made landfall Wednesday evening as a Category 3 storm in the Sarasota, Florida area.

Sustained winds of 90 mph and 10 to 14 inches of rainfall has slammed the St. Petersburg area near Tampa Bay, per The Weather Channel.

Those winds were caught on camera tearing the roof off Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team.

#TropicanaField roof is coming off @RaysTheRoofTB pic.twitter.com/GNGpNcXiuV
— Bill Carl Johnson (@BC_Johnson) October 10, 2024

The MLB stadium was converted into a "base camp" for first responders and those stranded in the storm's path, with thousands of cots covering the playing surface.

ABC News reported there were no injuries, but it is unclear how damaged the camp inside is at the time of this publishing. NBC News reporter Marissa Parra posted on X that officials and aid workers are "hiding in corridors."

Tropicana Field has a slanted, fixed dome roof made of translucent, Teflon-coated fiber glass supported by cables. The images coming out of St. Petersburg showed that roof torn to shreds and flapping in the wind.

It keeps getting worse pic.twitter.com/OCwaxAiDmY
— Bill Carl Johnson (@BC_Johnson) October 10, 2024

OMG. We all had a collected gasp when we saw this from our reporter. The fabric on the roof of Tropicana Field is shredded. #StPete #Milton pic.twitter.com/36UKLO9cK6
— Jason Adams (@JasonAdamsWFTS) October 10, 2024

The stadium opened in 1990 and underwent an $18M renovation in 2006-07. After the clear damage done by the storm Wednesday, a roof replacement will now likely be required ahead of the 2025 MLB season.

The storm has also caused multiple changes to sporting events scheduled for this week in the state, including several postponements.

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