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St. Petersburg construction crane falls from high rise during Hurricane Milton

By FOX 13 News Staff
Published  October 9, 2024 11:38pm EDT
News
FOX 13 News

Press play above to watch St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch's press conference. It is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. 

    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A construction crane in downtown St. Petersburg came tumbling down as Hurricane Milton lashed the city. 

    Video shows the crane on the ground surrounded by debris after it plummeted to the ground at 400 Central Avenue. 

    The city says nobody was injured in the collapse.

    Courtesy: St. Petersburg Police Department

    A witness told FOX 13 that she believes it fell on the Tampa Bay Times building. 

    The crane fell off of a building that has been under construction for about two years and would be the tallest building in St. Petersburg. 

    Earlier this week, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch said he was worried about how the tower cranes would work during Hurricane Milton, noting that it takes specialized crews about a week of planning to remove and disassemble the cranes because most are fixed in place. 

    City staff said that St. Petersburg was in touch with developers managing the cranes. Due to the nature of crane operations, though, lowering or securing a tower crane is scheduled weeks in advance and was not a feasible option within the timeframe of Hurricane Milton.

    The tower cranes are put into weathervane mode during storms that make them safe to about 100 mile per hour gusts, but Hurricane Milton produced winds that were higher. 

    In a statement to FOX 13 on Thursday afternoon, John Catsimatidis Sr., founder of Red Apple Real Estate and principal of the company that is sponsoring the development shared, "We are grateful that no one was injured in the area, and that the only damage was to bricks and not to people."

    Officials with the development team and the City of St. Petersburg are inspecting the area to figure out what to do with the debris on the ground. 

    Hurricane Milton: Crane collapses in downtown St. Pete

    A crane collapsed in downtown St. Pete as Hurricane Milton continues to batter the Tampa Bay area.

    "The 400 Central building is in good condition, but we are conducting further inspections," Catsimatidis added. "We expect work on the building to recommence as soon as possible."

    The Category 3 hurricane made landfall Wednesday night on Siesta Key. It was downgraded to a Category 2 hurricane about two hours after making landfall and is expected to works its way across the state Thursday morning. 

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