Terrifying footage shows Hurricane Milton ripping of roof of stadium intended to shelter 10,000 people

Footage has emerged showing a stadium roof being ripped away by Hurricane Milton in Florida, United States.

The Tropicana Field, which has been the home of Major League Baseball side Tampa Bay Rays since 1998, had its roof ripped away by the strong winds caused by Hurricane Milton on Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, as the state of Florida prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, it was suggested that it was going to be a category five hurricane but it had dropped to category three by the time it made landfall.

However, despite the drop in category, Milton still managed to cause major damage to the state.

The Tropicana Field, which has a capacity of 42,735, was reportedly being used as a shelter for as many as 10,000 residents but saw its dome roof torn off due to the strong winds.

It has been suggested that the stadium was built to cope with winds of up to 115 mph but Milton had reported wind speeds of up to 120 mph. You can watch the footage below.

Roof is gone at Tropicana Field #milton #rays

Video by: Nick Friedman@mysuncoast @WESH pic.twitter.com/VME6Um351J

— Nick Burch (@PageWebber) October 10, 2024

As reported by American news outlet ABC, the roof on Tropicana Field is the ‘world's largest cable-supported domed roof’, and it has 180 miles of cables connected by struts.

On Thursday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during a news conference: “They were relocated. Tropicana Field is a routine staging area for these things. The roof on that ... I think it’s rated for 110 mph 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. There were no state assets that were inside Tropicana Field.”

Meanwhile, an NBA pre season match between Orlando Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans has been cancelled due to Milton.

Orlando Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said: “There’s always things bigger than the game of basketball and that’s what we have to keep our perspective on.

“Knowing that there’s families and homes and situations that are going through a tough time right now, we need to be mindful of that and conscious of it.”