Hurricane Milton reached landfall in Florida on Wednesday night and was tabbed as a Category 3 storm. The storm has been pounding Tampa Bay, ripping the roof off of Tropicana Field where the Tampa Bay Rays play. The stadium was going to serve as a shelter for first responders.
Raymond James Stadium, where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play and the home of Super Bowl LV (which the Bucs won in blowout fashion), hasn't been safe from the storm either. Videos of the stadium flooding surfaced all over social media and it's no joke.
#Bucs Raymond James Stadium is flooded. #Buccaneers #Milton
— JC Allen (@JCAllenNFL) October 10, 2024
Video via LO and $ on TikTok pic.twitter.com/9dkOqrhebo
Raymond James Stadium hit with flooding amid Hurricane Milton
The Buccaneers did not have a home game scheduled this weekend and departed for New Orleans earlier than normal to avoid the storm. They've been practicing at Tulane while preparing to play the Saints this weekend.
Wide receiver Mike Evans said that the team is "trying to play for something a little bit bigger" now that the storm has hit and while football is just a silly game, if this can bring people going through devastation some happiness, then we take it where we can get it in hard times.
Millions of people in the path of Hurricane Milton were ordered to evacuate. As noted above, football is truly just a game. What people in Florida are dealing with now is so much more than the result of a football game but as Evans said, the Bucs have a lot of people rooting for them to try to lift them up in any way they can right now.
Keep everyone in Florida in your thoughts and prayers.