Raymond James Stadium and Tropicana Field felt the devastating full force of Hurricane Milton on Wednesday night.

The storm, which reached Category 5 status earlier this week before being downgraded to a Category 3, made landfall in the Tampa Bay area on Wednesday, dealing out major damage to the home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and MLB‘s Tampa Bay Rays.

The roof of Tropicana Field has been torn to pieces by high windsAP

Viral video footage showed most of the fabric covering the domed roof at Tropicana Field completely torn off.

According to the Rays, the roof was built to withstand winds of up to 115 mph and is supported by 180 miles of cables connected by struts in what the team calls the “world’s largest cable-supported domed roof.”

The Rays said before the storm hit that the ballpark in St. Petersburg was being set up as a staging area for 10,000 first responders.

Tropicana Field had previously been filled with rows of green cots for residents to seek shelter as authorities prepared to deal with the impact of the hurricane.

About 90 minutes after making landfall on Wednesday, Milton was downgraded to a Category 2 storm, but still sustained winds of about 105 mph.

According to the New York Times, more than 1.6 million Floridians were without power, as of Wednesday night.

Raymond James Stadium was quickly overcome with water as a result of the storm. Online footage showed the home of the Bucs rapidly filling up with water.

The Bucaneers had already left Florida ahead of Milton to practice the rest of the week. The Bucs relocated to New Orleans ahead of their Week 6 matchup against the Saints on Sunday.

“Stay safe, Florida,” the team said in a statement on X after sharing touching photos of the players and their families boarding their flight.

The storm made landfall in Tampa Bay on Wednesday into ThursdayAP

Viral footage showed Raymond James Stadium filling up with waterX@_MLFootball

Tropicana Field opened for Pinellas County residents who need shelter before the arrival of Hurricane MiltonReuters

Head Coach Todd Bowles spoke to the media via Zoom following the team’s first practice, revealing that everything went smoothly.

“I think overall, everything went smoothly,” said Bowles.

“We got the team out, we got their families out, we got their pets out and everything else. Family is the most important thing right now.

“You can replace material things and you want everybody to be okay and you hope everybody evacuated; if not hunkered down safely.

“Family is the most important thing. If you can get your family out and keep them safe, everything else can be replaced.”

Various other Florida-based sporting events and games have been affected by Milton.

An NBA preseason game between the Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans, scheduled to take place in Orlando on Friday, was cancelled.

A preseason game in Miami between the Heat and the Atlanta Hawks was pushed back from Thursday to Wednesday, October 16.

The LPGA Tour also postponed the qualifying stage of its Q-Series that was scheduled for Oct. 13-18 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Florida.

However, the Tampa Bay Lightning’s home opener against the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL is still set to go ahead as planned on Saturday.

Hurricane Milton is expected to have moved off the east coast of Florida by Thursday morning.

The University of Central Florida’s Big 12 home football game vs. Cincinnati also remains scheduled for an afternoon kickoff in Orlando on Saturday.