HURRICANE MILTON HAS torn the roof off a baseball stadium that was being used as a shelter for emergency workers responding to the storm.
Milton brought misery to a coast still ravaged by Hurricane Helene as it ploughed into Florida as a Category 3 storm, pounding cities with winds of over 160 kph after producing a barrage of tornadoes.
It tracked to the south in the final hours and made landfall on Wednesday night in Siesta Key near Sarasota, about 112 kilometres south of Tampa.
While Tampa was spared a direct hit, the situation in the area is still a major emergency, with over 16 inches of rain recorded.
This has prompted the National Weather Service to warn of flash flooding there, as well as other parts of western and central Florida.
Tropicana Field, the home of the Tampa Bay Rays baseball team in St Petersburg, also appeared to have been badly damaged.
Pieces of the non-retractable roof were ripped to shreds and seen flapping in the fierce winds.
While the fabric on the roof was damaged, the metal frame appeared to be unscathed.
According to WFTS-TV in Tampa, there were no reported injuries at the site.
The stadium was being used as a shelter for first responders in the buildup to the response to the storm.
Yesterday, rows of beds sat atop the stadium’s artificial turf for use by emergency workers.
The stadium was set up to host around 10,000 people, with cots arranged on the playing surface.
Captain Garth Swingle of St. Petersburg Fire Rescue told ABC News there has been contact with the people inside and they are safe.
It wasn’t immediately known if there was damage inside the stadium.
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