BRANDON, Fla. — Hurricane Milton tore across the Tampa Bay area, bringing with it winds in excess of 100 miles per hour that left jarring scars on the region including the shredded roof of Tropicana Field and several floors crushed by a crane at the St. Petersburg building that houses the Tampa Bay Times.
In just one more example of the intense winds that accompanied Milton, 10 Tampa Bay's Evan Closky discovered a thrashed Cracker Barrel sign in a parking lot -- three miles from the nearest Cracker Barrel.
Evan was in Brandon when he encountered the sign, nearly a 10-minute drive from the Cracker Barrel in Valrico.
According to the National Weather Service, gusts reached as high as 101 miles per hour in St. Petersburg as Milton moved over the region after making landfall in Siesta Key. In Hillsborough County the peak gusts were slightly less strong -- 97 miles per hour recorded in Tampa and 91 miles per hour at Raymond James Stadium -- but still plenty strong enough to rip off a Cracker Barrel sign and send it a few miles down the road.
More on Hurricane Milton
Originally a tropical storm on Saturday, Milton rapidly intensified in the following days. By early Monday, it had reached Category 2 strength, fluctuating between Category 4 and 5 before settling back to Category 3 as it approached land.
The storm brought deadly winds exceeding 100 mph (160 kph) to much of Florida’s Gulf Coast, including densely populated areas like Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Fort Myers.
In St. Petersburg, powerful winds from Hurricane Milton toppled a large construction crane late Wednesday night. The crane collapsed at the 400 Central Avenue construction site.
St. Petersburg recorded over 16 inches (41 centimeters) of rain, prompting the National Weather Service to issue warnings for flash flooding. Even before making landfall, tornadoes had touched down across Florida.