Rays say it may take ‘weeks’ to fully assess damage at Tropicana Field

The Tampa Bay Rays mentioned it could take weeks to completely assess how a lot harm was executed to Tropicana Area, which noticed its roof ripped to shreds by the power of Hurricane Milton because the lethal storm barreled throughout a lot of Florida.

The crew mentioned nobody was injured when the St. Petersburg ballpark was struck by the storm on Wednesday evening. A handful of “important personnel” have been inside Tropicana Area because the roof panels have been blown aside, a lot of the particles falling on the sphere and seats under.

“Over the approaching days and weeks, we count on to have the ability to assess the true situation of Tropicana Area,” the Rays mentioned Thursday. “Within the meantime, we’re working with regulation enforcement to safe the constructing. We ask in your persistence presently, and we encourage those that can to donate to organizations in our group which are helping these instantly impacted by these storms.”

Milton was the second hurricane to hit Florida’s Gulf Coast within the span of two weeks, preceded by Hurricane Helene, which flooded streets and houses on that very same facet of the state and left at the least 230 individuals useless throughout the South.

The Rays aren’t scheduled to play within the ballpark once more till March 27, when they’re imagined to play host to the Colorado Rockies to open the 2025 season.

For as unhealthy because the harm was, the state of affairs at Tropicana Area might have been worse. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had mentioned earlier within the week that there have been plans for the ballpark to function a “non permanent base camp” to assist particles cleanup operations and quickly home some first responders. However these plans have been modified because the storm neared, amid considerations that the roof merely wouldn’t survive Milton’s wrath.

“They have been relocated,” DeSantis mentioned at a Thursday morning information convention. “Tropicana Area is a routine staging space for these items. The roof on that … I believe it’s rated for 110 mph and so the forecast adjustments, however because it grew to become clear that there was going to be one thing of that magnitude that was going to be inside the distance, they redeployed them out of Tropicana. There have been no state belongings that have been inside Tropicana Area.”

The crew beforehand mentioned that Tropicana Area options the world’s largest cable-supported domed roof, with the panels product of “translucent, Teflon-coated fiberglass” supported by 180 miles of cables linked by struts.

The roof was designed to resist wind of as much as 115 mph, in accordance with the Rays. The stadium opened in 1990 at an preliminary value $138 million and is due to get replaced in time for the 2028 season with a $1.3 billion ballpark.

Lightning house opener postponed

The Tampa Bay Lightning won’t play their house opener Saturday as deliberate.

The NHL mentioned Thursday that Saturday’s Lightning recreation towards the Carolina Hurricanes was postponed “amid restoration efforts within the Tampa Bay space from the impression of Hurricane Milton.”

No make-up date was instantly introduced. The Lightning will open the season at Carolina on Friday, and traveled there earlier this week to get out forward of the storm.

The change signifies that Tampa Bay’s house opener is now set for Tuesday towards Vancouver.

“There’s a variety of concern for everyone there,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper mentioned after observe Thursday. “That’s our house. It’s going to be drastically completely different than once we left.”

The Lightning additionally had their preseason finale, which was to have been performed this previous Monday towards Nashville, known as off due to Milton’s looming arrival. That recreation was initially set to be performed final month and was postponed then due to Hurricane Helene.

There even was a second of silence in Ottawa earlier than the Senators’ recreation towards the Florida Panthers on Thursday evening, paying tribute to these affected by Milton.

Magic return delayed

The Orlando Magic spent Thursday in San Antonio and have been planning to return house on Friday, a day behind their authentic schedule for the week.

The Magic performed a preseason recreation in San Antonio on Wednesday evening. They meant to fly house Thursday, arriving in Orlando within the early afternoon — these plans being scrapped due to Milton.

As an alternative, the Magic scheduled a observe in San Antonio on Thursday and have tentative plans to fly again to Orlando on Friday. A preseason recreation that was to be performed Friday in Orlando between the Magic and the New Orleans Pelicans was canceled and won’t be rescheduled.

“There’s at all times issues greater than the sport of basketball and that’s what we’ve got to maintain our perspective on,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley mentioned. “Figuring out that there’s households and houses and conditions which are going by means of a tricky time proper now, we must be conscious of that and aware of it.”

The Magic-Pelicans recreation is the second NBA preseason matchup to be affected by Milton. A recreation scheduled for Thursday in Miami between the Warmth and Atlanta Hawks was postponed till Oct. 16 due to storm considerations.

USF recreation nonetheless on, however moved

USF’s recreation with Memphis has been moved once more — this time, to Orlando.

The groups have been scheduled to play Friday evening in Tampa, then rescheduled to play there Saturday afternoon due to storm considerations. And on Thursday evening, the sport was modified once more with the positioning now set to be Orlando’s Tenting World Stadium, about 90 miles northeast of Tampa.

The American Athletic Convention mentioned that call was made “within the curiosity of public security and with respect for the response and restoration efforts” within the Tampa space after Milton.

The sport is a 3:30 p.m. begin.

___

AP sports activities: https://apnews.com/sports activities