Tampa ballpark was meant to be a hurricane relief hub. Milton tore it open.
Hurricane Milton’s powerful winds and storm surge pummeled the Tampa Bay area’s sports stadiums, tearing apart the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., and flooding parts of Raymond James Stadium as the monster storm made landfall Wednesday evening.
The scenes of devastation at Tropicana Field, home of the Rays baseball team, and Raymond James Stadium, home of the Buccaneers football team, immediately conjured images of Hurricane Katrina’s severe damage to New Orleans’s Superdome in 2005. They also raised fresh questions about whether hurricane victims would feel safe sheltering in stadiums in the future.
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. The local government said in a statement that no injuries were reported at Tropicana Field, but it urged the public to avoid the area until further notice and to continue to shelter in place.
Before the storm, the Florida Division of Emergency Management had planned to turn 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.
But the staging area was relocated to Jacksonville because of concerns that the roof of the 34-year-old ballpark would not hold up, DeSantis said Thursday during a news briefing.
“Tropicana Field is a routine staging area for these things,” DeSantis said. “The roof on that … I think it’s rated for 110 miles per hour, and so the forecast changes, but as it became clear that there was going to be something of that magnitude that was going to be within the distance, they redeployed them out of Tropicana.”
Jeremy Redfern, a spokesman for DeSantis, did not immediately respond to questions about why Jacksonville was selected for the backup staging area, even though it is a roughly three-hour drive away from the hard-hit Tampa Bay area.
Nicknamed “the Trop,” the 1.1-million-square-foot, multipurpose stadium has been home to the Rays since the team’s inaugural season in 1998. The ballpark’s distinctive tilted 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.” The roof consisted of “six acres of translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass and supports itself with 180 miles of cables connected by struts,” according to the media guide.
Footage of Tropicana Field, shared Wednesday on social media by former NFL tight end Dave Moore, who was riding out the storm nearby, showed bright lights on the inside of the arena exposed and shredded roof fabric blowing in the wind.
Michael Teevan, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said in an email that “our hearts and prayers are with the entire Tampa Bay community and all the families impacted by this storm throughout Florida.”
Teevan declined to comment on whether the Rays would be able to play in the stadium next season, citing ongoing discussions with the team. Tropicana Field is set to be replaced by a $1.3 billion ballpark, ready in time for the 2028 season.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we expect to be able to assess the true condition of Tropicana Field,” the Rays said in a statement. “In the meantime, we are working with law enforcement to secure the building.”
Milton’s deadly storm surge also inundated parts of Raymond James Stadium, which has hosted three Super Bowls. Videos and photos posted to social media showed the stadium rapidly filling up with floodwaters.
The damage comes after the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is leading the federal response to Milton, announced last month it was partnering with the NFL to turn football stadiums across the country into emergency shelters, temporary hospitals and other venues needed during disasters.
So far, four NFL venues have signed on to the FEMA initiative: Raymond James Stadium; MetLife Stadium west of New York, home of the Jets and the Giants; Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers; and Lumen Field in Seattle, home of the Seahawks. SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., where the Rams and Chargers play, is expected to join.
The Buccaneers are not scheduled to play at Raymond James again until Oct. 21. Eric Hart, president and CEO of the Tampa Sports Authority, said Raymond James experienced “mostly all cosmetic damage” and the floodwaters had receded as of Thursday afternoon. He expressed confidence that the stadium could be used to house first responders during Milton and other disasters, although he cautioned that “I won’t speak for the NFL.”
Tim Schlittner, an NFL spokesman, said in an email that the “good news is all damage is superficial and the response command is still in place.” He did not respond to follow-up questions; spokespeople for FEMA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Milton’s damage recalled Katrina’s destruction in 2005, when winds shredded the roof of the 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.
Doug Quinn, CEO of United Survivors Disaster Relief, said that while the goal of the FEMA initiative is admirable, many disaster victims may be reluctant to seek shelter in stadiums post-Katrina and Milton.
“Probably one of the biggest horror stories from Katrina was what happened to the Superdome,” he said.
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