The hurricane Milton caused countless damage in its path in North Florida and images showing the home of the Tampa Bay Rays have already made the rounds on social networks, but the Buccaneers stadium was not spared either.
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As several local observers reported with supporting videos, Raymond James Stadium was transformed into a giant swimming pool during the passage of the storm. The field on which the “Bucs” play has been flooded in several places, the accumulations of water being easy to see on the sequences posted online since the end of Wednesday evening.
We will now have to see if the premises will be usable for the team’s next local game which will host the Baltimore Ravens on October 21.
These misfortunes add to those of the Rays, who saw the Teflon roof of Tropicana Field tear, making the interior of the infrastructure visible. The devastation could cause a lot of headaches for the major baseball club which must play three more campaigns in this building. His first duel of the 2025 campaign will be held on March 27 at home.
Match postponed
On the Lightning side, it seems that its neighborhoods have avoided the worst. Some Internet users claimed Thursday that the Amalie Arena had not suffered any significant structural damage. This therefore represents a big relief for the “Bolts”, who had left the Tampa area to train in Carolina; they will begin the regular National Hockey League (NHL) schedule by visiting the Hurricanes on Friday.
“Everybody’s mind is probably not where it should be,” head coach Jon Cooper told NHL.com. There are a lot of things going on at home, whether it’s family, friends, houses, cars…what is it going to look like? Just about everyone on our team doesn’t have electricity.”
However, the two teams were to cross swords again the next day in Tampa and the Bettman circuit announced Thursday the postponement of the meeting. No resumption date has been specified, with the NHL justifying the decision by citing reconstruction and cleaning efforts that will be carried out in the coming days.
“It’s two very stressful days, not knowing what’s going to happen,” added defenseman Victor Hedman. It’s hard. We are human beings. I have been here for 15 years and this is my home. It’s hard not to think about it. But we have to keep our focus on tomorrow’s game and hope we can go back home and help out.”