A construction crane was knocked over by Hurricane Milton's winds at the office building housing the Tampa Bay Times, leaving a large hole in the side of the building.
The crane was being used to build the luxury 46-story skyscraper, St. Petersburg's tallest skyscraper, but it was unable to withstand the fury of the storm that fell late Wednesday night.
A large portion of the crane crashed into the side of an adjacent office building housing several businesses. Including the Tampa Bay Times.
Images of the aftermath show twisted metal and debris from the collapse strewn across the streets of downtown St. Petersburg.
Witnesses near the wreckage told the Tampa Bay Times they saw palm trees entangled in mangled metal, smoke billowing from damaged buildings and the smell of gasoline in the air. .
The newspaper reported that no one was working inside the newsroom when the crane crashed into the building.
St. Petersburg city officials also acknowledged No one was injured when the crane plummeted due to Hurricane Milton's strong winds.
Michael Kotler, who lives on the 12th floor of a nearby residential building, told the outlet he heard what he believed to be ground-shaking thunder from the storm around 10 p.m.
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Kotler said he then looked out the window and saw part of the crane embedded in the side of the building.
New York billionaire John Catsimatidis' Red Apple Group, developer of the 515-foot-tall residential building, said “one crane cab at the top of the mast” fell during the storm. admitted that.
The 400 Central building is expected to be completed in the spring and open to tenants in the summer. According to WTSP.
Condo prices range from $1.1 million to $8 million.
Don Tire, St. Petersburg's building authority, said the three construction site cranes used to build the giant skyscraper were rated to withstand winds of up to 110 miles per hour.
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Milton made landfall as a Category 3 storm near Siesta Key in Sarasota County around 8:30 p.m., with maximum wind speeds of 190 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Around the time the crane collapsed, wind speeds from the storm were reaching speeds of 165 to 110 miles per hour in St. Petersburg.
Tropicana Field, home of MLB's Tampa Bay Rays, suffered extensive roof damage less than a mile from the Tampa Bay Times building.
Shockingly, tower cranes were a source of concern for city officials earlier this week as they prepared for damage from Hurricane Milton.
Before the storm, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch expressed concern about several cranes towering over construction sites across the city, according to reports. fox 13.
Welch and other city officials feared the crane would topple during the storm, but short notice prevented them from taking action to dismantle it.
He advised nearby residents to evacuate the area to avoid disaster.
