Rays say it might take ‘weeks’ to evaluate stadium harm in wake of Milton

The Tampa Bay Rays stated it might take weeks to completely assess how a lot harm was carried out 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 group stated 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 sector and seats beneath.

“Over the approaching days and weeks, we anticipate to have the ability to assess the true situation of Tropicana Area,” the Rays stated Thursday. “Within the meantime, we’re working with regulation enforcement to safe the constructing. We ask in your persistence right now, and we encourage those that can to donate to organizations in our group which might be aiding 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 aspect of the state and left a minimum of 230 individuals lifeless throughout the South.

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

For as dangerous because the harm was, the scenario at Tropicana Area may have been worse. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had stated earlier within the week that there have been plans for the ballpark to function a “short-term base camp” to assist particles cleanup operations and briefly home some first responders. However these plans have been modified because the storm neared, amid issues that the roof merely wouldn’t survive Milton’s wrath.

“They have been relocated,” DeSantis stated at a Thursday morning information convention. “Tropicana Area is a routine staging space for this stuff. The roof on that … I believe it’s rated for 110 mph and so the forecast modifications, however because it turned 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 property that have been inside Tropicana Area.”

The group beforehand stated 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 related by struts.

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

Lightning dwelling opener postponed

The Tampa Bay Lightning is not going to play their dwelling opener Saturday as deliberate.

The NHL stated Thursday that Saturday’s Lightning recreation towards the Carolina Hurricanes was postponed “amid restoration efforts within the Tampa Bay space from the influence 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 dwelling opener is now set for Tuesday towards Vancouver.

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.

Magic return delayed

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

The Magic performed a preseason recreation in San Antonio on Wednesday evening. They supposed to fly dwelling 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 all the time issues greater than the sport of basketball and that’s what now we have to maintain our perspective on,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley stated. “Figuring out that there’s households and houses and conditions which might be going by means of a troublesome time proper now, we should be conscious of that and acutely 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 issues. Additionally known as off earlier this week: a rescheduled NHL preseason recreation on Friday in Tampa between the Lightning and Predators — one which was initially set to be performed final month and was postponed due to Hurricane Helene.

UCF, USF video games nonetheless on

A pair of faculty soccer video games are set to be performed Saturday in cities that handled a few of Milton’s worst wind and rain, although there have been some logistical points that have been nonetheless being mentioned on Thursday within the aftermath of the storm.

In Tampa, USF is getting ready play host to Memphis — a recreation that was pushed again from Friday to Saturday. And in Orlando, UCF is getting ready to play host to Cincinnati.

Each video games are scheduled to have 3:30 p.m. kickoffs.

Reporting by The Related Press.

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