Watch moment Hurricane Milton rips roof off Tropicana Field Stadium which was being used as base for emergency workers
DRAMATIC footage shows the moment Hurricane Milton tore an entire roof off a stadium emergency workers were using as a base.
Florida is being battered by “catastrophic” flooding and 120mph winds as the deadly hurricane rips through the state.
Tropicana Field in St Petersburg suffered the storm’s wrath as its roof was shredded by ferocious winds.
Chunks of the stadium’s non-retractable roof were seen flapping in the wind.
The stadium – home to the Tampa Bay Rays – was being used as a shelter for first responders.
It’s understood no one was injured at the site – despite at least 13 people being at the site when the roof came off.
Branded the “storm of the century”, Milton barrelled into Florida on Wednesday evening.
Dramatic images show a construction crane on the ground after it came tumbling down as Milton brought misery to St Petersburg.
But after days of warnings of apocalyptic-style devastation, the hurricane appears to be weaker than feared after twice making Category 5.
Milton spawned several powerful tornadoes which left at least two dead in St Lucie County, with multiple others rushed to hospital.
As well as whipping up deadly tornadoes, Milton has knocked out power to two million homes and businesses, while at least 125 homes have been destroyed.
Devastating flash flooding is causing chaos in the Tampa Bay area, with up to 16 inches of rainfall so far – a one-in-1000 year amount of rainfall for the area.
The US National Weather Service warned that life-threatening flash flooding was ongoing or expected.
Storm surge forecasts are predicting 10 to 15 feet of water along with devastating waves driven by hurricane-force winds.
Thousands fled Florida after President Joe Biden warned Milton would be “one of the most destructive hurricanes of the century”.
Milton plowed into Florida as a Category 3 storm, and around 90 minutes after making landfall was downgraded to Category 2.
By early Thursday, the hurricane was a Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 90 mph as it churned about 30 miles south of Orlando.
Residents have been ordered to stay indoors while a number of emergency workers have been forced to down tools due to the “life-threatening” situation.
On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis warned residents to stay indoors as the hurricane made landfall.
He said: “At this point, it’s too dangerous to evacuate safely, so you have to shelter in place and just hunker down.”
The storm was expected to cross the Florida peninsula overnight and emerge into the Atlantic, still with hurricane force, on Thursday.
Milton is forecast to maintain hurricane intensity while crossing Florida later on Thursday morning but after moving into the Atlantic it is likely to gradually lose tropical characteristics and slowly weaken.
In a state already battered by Hurricane Helene two weeks ago, as many as two million people were ordered to evacuate, and millions more live in the projected path of the storm.
Much of the southern US experienced the deadly force of Hurricane Helene as it cut a swath of devastation through Florida and several other states.
Both storms are expected to cause billions of dollars in damage.