A BASEBALL stadium in Florida has undergone a transformation into a relief center ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall.
Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida looked completely unrecognizable from it’s usual baseball setup.
Tropicana Field has transformed into a base camp as Florida prepares for Hurricane Milton[/caption]
Thousands of beds have been set up on the outfield of the Tampa Bay Rays’ home stadium[/caption]
The stadium is home to the Tampa Bay Rays in Major League, Baseball.
It is located on the western side of the state of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico, which is where Hurricane Milton will make landfall.
And the outfield was covered with beds to host thousands of first responders.
Tropicana Field is domed and has a slanted roof in an attempt to protect it better from hurricanes.
Florida has been bracing for what President Joe Biden has described as possibly the worst storm in 100 years.
The President warned residents to evacuate immediately and that the storm is “a matter of life and death.”
“You should have already evacuated,” Biden told residents in a public address.
“It’s a matter of life and death, and that’s not hyperbole.
“It’s a matter of life and death.
“This could be the worst storm to hit Florida in over a century.
“God willing it won’t be, but that’s what it’s looking like right now.
Biden added that the hurricane is expected to enter Florida on the west and leave on the east “as a hurricane on the Atlantic Coast.”
It is expected to make landfall from the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday evening.
And it will make it’s way through the state overnight before leaving over the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday.
Winds of more than 160mph have been recorded in the Gulf of Mexico.
What is a hurricane and how do they form?
A HURRICANE is another name for a tropical cyclone – a powerful storm that forms over warm ocean waters near the equator.
Those arising in the Atlantic or eastern Pacific are called hurricanes, while those in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean are dubbed typhoons or cyclones.
North of the equator they spin anticlockwise because of the rotation of the Earth, however, they turn the opposite way in the southern hemisphere.
Cyclones are like giant weather engines fuelled by water vapor as it evaporates from the sea.
Warm, moist air rises away from the surface, creating a low-pressure system that sucks in air from surrounding areas – which in turn is warmed by the ocean.
As the vapour rises it cools and condenses into swirling bands of cumulonimbus storm clouds.
The system grows and spins faster, sucking in more air and feeding off the energy in seawater that has been warmed by the sun.
At the center, a calm “eye” of the storm is created where cooled air sinks towards the ultra-low pressure zone below, surrounded by spiraling winds of warm air rising.
The faster the wind, the lower the air pressure at the center, and the storm grows stronger and stronger.
Tropical cyclones usually weaken when they hit land as they are no longer fed by evaporation from the warm sea.
But they often move far inland – dumping vast amounts of rain and causing devastating wind damage – before the “fuel” runs out and the storm peters out.
Hurricanes can also cause storm surges when the low air pressure sucks the sea level higher than normal, swamping low-lying coasts.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the area affected by winds could double in size by the time it makes landfall.
Tampa’s mayor has warned those who stay in the city could die as 5.5million people have been told to evacuate their homes.
Storm surges of 15ft are expected – swallowing entire houses with water and anyone trying to ride it out inside.
Evacuation orders have closed schools, shut businesses and caused flight cancellations.
The US government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has 20 million meals and 40 million litres of water ready to deploy around Florida.
Residents in Tampa, Florida are seen preparing for Hurricane Milton[/caption]
Roads in Florida are are a standstill as people flee towards safety[/caption]
Streets in Celestun, Mexico, were flooded by Hurricane Milton, which intensified over the Gulf of Mexico and reached winds more than 160mph[/caption]
