St. Pete’s road to recovery slowly comes into focus

Hurricane Milton brought several hours of extreme winds, 102 mph gusts, 18 inches of rain and, according to preliminary assessments, contributed to at least two deaths in St. Petersburg.

However, as Mayor Ken Welch noted at a Thursday morning briefing, the city did not experience a once-projected catastrophic storm surge. In addition, crews have already reopened two previously offline sanitary sewer plants and restored potable water service – albeit with a boil water notice.

An extensive road to recovery began early Thursday morning with a tower crane wedged into a neighboring building and nearly 400,000 people in Pinellas County without power. Hundreds of downed trees and power lines littered yards and roadways throughout St. Petersburg.

Milton’s gusts blew Tropicana Field’s interior and exterior roof into adjacent parking lots. Still, there are silver linings.

“This was a storm that intensified quickly and gave us little time to prepare,” Welch said. “But we made it through the storm. We’ve started the recovery, and we will be successful.”

While only one construction crane fell in St. Petersburg, another building downtown suffered extensive damage.

Rescues

Police Chief Anthony Holloway said one person died from a medical emergency during the intense storm. First responders could not answer calls for help from roughly 7:30 p.m. Wednesday until 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

Another resident was found dead in a park. Holloway said the medical examiner has yet to release a cause of death.

Fire Rescue Chief Ian Womack said emergency call center personnel, as of 10 a.m., were still working through a queue of people they could not reach during the storm. While he is unsure how many people received transport to area hospitals, the agency recorded 50 high-priority and about 1,000 general calls for help.

“Notably, that’s a little bit of a smaller volume … compared to (Hurricane) Helene,” Womack said. “We attribute that to the public doing well – listening to the evacuation orders and getting themselves out of harm’s way. That’s made a huge difference in our ability to address people’s needs who are still here.”

Crane Collapse

A significant piece of a 500-foot-tall tower crane at the Residences at 400 Central construction site flew into the neighboring Tampa Bay Times building. While it remains wedged into the fifth floor – and the damage resembles a bomb blast – officials have not received any reports of injuries related to the incident.

Don Tyre, city building manager, explained that the developer and primary contractor are responsible for securing or removing tower cranes before the storm. He contacted both four days before Milton rapidly intensified and set its sights on St. Pete.

However, Tyre reiterated that the disassembly process takes over a week. “It was a devastating thing when it fell,” he said of the looming crane. “But with a failure like that, it was probably the best-case scenario,” because only a portion of the crane fell. 

The equipment had a 110-mph wind rating, which the city does not regulate. Welch said that could change in Milton’s aftermath. He pledged to reevaluate policies and capital improvement projects according to increasing climate threats.

John Catsimatidis Sr., founder of Red Apple Real Estate, the development firm overseeing 400 Central, said the tower is in “good condition” and crews would conduct further inspections. “We expect work on the building to recommence as soon as possible,” he said in a prepared statement.

“We are grateful that no one was injured in the area and that the only damage was to bricks and not people.”

Tropicana Field, home to the Tampa Bay Rays, lost most of its roof during the storm.

A topless Trop

Milton’s gusts shredded Tropicana Field’s roof, exposing its playing field to extreme elements. The stadium recently housed hundreds of state storm recovery workers.

City administrator Rob Gerdes said 14 security officers were inside the Trop at the time, and he is unaware of any injuries. The Tampa Bay Rays and officials now face costly damages about three months before construction commences on a new, more environmentally resilient ballpark.

St. Petersburg is typically responsible for repairs and capital improvements on the Trop. Gerdes hopes municipal property insurance will cover the losses.

In a prepared statement, Tampa Bay Rays officials said they would work with law enforcement to secure the building. They expect to assess the stadium’s “true condition” in the “coming days and weeks.”

“Our priority is supporting our community and our staff,” wrote the Rays. “We are fortunate and grateful that no one was hurt by the damage to our ballpark last night.”

Snapped utility poles line streets throughout St. Petersburg.

Additional damages

Amy Foster, housing and neighborhood affairs administrator, said it is too soon to provide a clear picture of citywide damages. The initial focus is to determine “where our most vulnerable communities are and where we will need to put out comfort stations or points of distribution.”

While hundreds of city employees are conducting assessments, Foster encouraged residents to report damages through the See-Click-Fix program. “Certainly, there are a lot of downed trees. A lot of downed powerlines,” she said.

Welch encouraged residents to continue sheltering in place and give first responders and recovery crews space to clear roads and restore critical services. He urged patience as Duke Energy works to fix outages, which have also impacted city employees.

“Be a good neighbor – offer help where you can,” Welch added. “We will come back from this challenge stronger and more resilient than ever before.”