Hurricane Milton swept away the roof of the Tampa Bay Rays stadium, located in St. Petersburg, a city on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Images taken by a drone from the AFP agency show the white plastic structure covering Tropicana Field completely destroyed.
Winds of up to 165 km/h battered the premises, which was supposed to be used as a shelter for emergency personnel.
The pieces of the roof were scattered on the playing field and in the stands. Fortunately, the metal structure of the dome withstood the impact.
According to La Nación, the Rays reported that only essential personnel were inside the stadium, and that everyone was safe and accounted for. It was not being used as a shelter, and first response teams were not being organized there.
Previously, the team revealed that Tropicana Field's roof was designed to withstand winds of up to 185 km/h.
It was a vaulted roof supported by the largest cables in the world, with panels made of "translucent fiberglass coated with Teflon" held up by nearly 300 kilometers of cables connected by struts.
On Monday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that the stadium would be designated as a base camp with a capacity for 10,000 people for debris cleanup operations and first responder personnel while the hurricane approached.
The Rays did not qualify for the playoffs, which have just started. Therefore, their next game at their home will not be until several months from now.
The stadium was inaugurated in 1990 and initially cost 38 million dollars. It is set to be replaced for the 2028 season by another one costing 1.3 billion.
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