Construction Crane Falls from 100+ meter High-Rise Under Construction in St. Petersburg During Hurricane Milton
A construction crane in downtown St. Petersburg collapsed as Hurricane Milton battered the city with powerful winds. Footage shows the crane lying amidst debris at 400 Central Avenue, where it had toppled to the ground. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the incident. A witness told FOX 13 that she believed the crane had landed on the Tampa Bay Times building.
The crane was attached to 400 Central, a high-rise that has structurally topped out, and aiming to become the tallest building in St. Petersburg at 515 feet (157 meters) when it is completed in 2025. Earlier in the week, Mayor Ken Welch had expressed concerns about the stability of the tower cranes during the hurricane, explaining that it requires specialized crews roughly a week to plan, disassemble, and remove these cranes, as most are fixed in place. City officials stated that they had been in contact with the developers overseeing the cranes. However, given the time constraints, securing or lowering the crane before Hurricane Milton arrived was not feasible.
During storms, tower cranes are typically placed in weathervane mode, which allows them to safely withstand gusts of up to 100 miles per hour. However, Hurricane Milton produced winds that exceeded those limits.
The Category 3 storm made landfall on Siesta Key on Wednesday night, 9 October, and was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane two hours later. It moved across the state by Thursday morning, 10 October and is winding down in the Atlantic Ocean.
Learn more about this story at Fox13 News.
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