Who left thousands of cots in the Trop while the roof was falling apart?

Hurricane Milton, St. When it tore through the fabric roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, thousands of empty cots were revealed inside the dome.

Rows of beds surrounded the baseball field, blocking the dugouts and filling foul territory. They moved towards the arena. Many were covered with large pieces of torn roofing. 3D images taken by a local drone company shows.

But even days after the storm, it remained unclear who the cots belonged to or why they were there, as concerns were raised about the stadium roof’s ability to withstand high winds.

Photograph of rows of cots inside the stadium, the day before Milton landed went viral on social media and Florida Department of Emergency Management approved It had set up a base camp for 10,000 people here for debris clearing teams and emergency response teams. Dozens of mobile shower trailers were parked outside the ballpark, indicating workers were ready to be there for a while.

However, around the same time, questions arose as to whether the Trop would be a safe location for intervention operations. “Days before the storm,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said, he and emergency management director Kevin Guthrie argued that the roof was only rated to withstand 185 mph winds (the lower end of Category 3). At one point, Milton was traveling at 175 miles per hour. Wind speeds dropped to approximately 190 mph before reaching land.

Following Milton, Guthrie said that the beds did not belong to the state. Tropical storm force winds in St. He said all state resources were moved about 12 hours before it hit St. Petersburg. Despite the governor’s spokesman post on social media Guthrie said that Trop supplies were moved to Jacksonville and that only some of them went there, while other supplies were distributed to staging areas that were still active due to Hurricane Helene.

The National Guard and Duke Energy said they decided not to operate at the baseball stadium. The Tampa Bay Rays declined to comment on the origins of the beds.

“I don’t know whose cots they have,” Guthrie said, adding that all state cots at the Trop are made available throughout the state, including temporary shelters in warehouses or at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino. Regardless, he said, the remaining cots at the Trop were available later. “No money was wasted,” he added.

However, the beds belonged to a government contractor.

CDR Maguire manages the response site at Tropicana Field, company spokesman Steve Vancore said, as records show more than $35 million has been paid by the state this year for emergency management services. Vancore said about 4,000 beds at the site belong to the contractor and are there for crews working to clear debris from Hurricane Helene, as well as electricians and government personnel handling evacuations. He confirmed that the crew left before Milton’s landing on 9 October.

“This was never going to be used as a site to weather the storm,” Vancore wrote in an email.

The state Division of Emergency Management did not respond to emailed questions about why Guthrie said the cots were not part of government operations if they belonged to a government contractor paid for by taxpayers.

When similarly asked for clarity from the governor’s office, DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern declined to answer, instead questioning the value of the story about “beds owned by a contractor being in an empty ballpark.”

• • •

Tampa Bay Times hurricane coverage 2024

What to know about FEMA checks and other federal Florida aid after Milton

Can Tampa Bay flood insurance increase after a hurricane? Warning from Hurricane Ian

11 ways to help struggling Tampa Bay businesses after Milton and Helene

How to deal with fires, tree limbs and other hazards after Hurricane Milton?

Checklists for building any storm kit.