Construction crane collapses into Tampa Bay Times building as Hurricane Milton wreaks havoc in Florida

A construction crane toppled into an office building housing the Tampa Bay Times and left a massive hole in the side of the structure during violent winds from Hurricane Milton.The crane was being used to construct a luxury high-rise 46-story building — the tallest skyscraper in St.Petersburg — and couldn’t handle the wrath of the storm’s winds when it fell late Wednesday night.A large part of the crane slammed into the side of the adjacent office building, home to several businesses, including the Tampa Bay Times.Images from the aftermath show twisted metal and debris from the collapse scattered throughout the street in downtown St.

Petersburg.Witnesses near the wreckage told the Tampa Bay Times that they saw palm trees tangled with the mangled metal, smoke billowing from the damaged building, and the smell of gasoline lingering in the air.The newspaper reported that no one was working inside its newsroom when the crane crashed into the building.St.Petersburg city officials also confirmed that no one was injured when the crane came plummeting down due to the force of Hurricane Milton’s winds. A resident on the 12th floor of a nearby residential building, Michael Kotler, told the outlet he heard what he believed was ground-shaking thunder from the storm at around 10 p.m.Follow The Post for live updates as Hurricane Milton makes landfallKotler said he then looked out from his window and saw part of the crane embedded into the side of the building.New York billionaire John Catsimatidis’ Red Apple Group, the developer of the 515-foot residential building, confirmed that “one crane cab in the upper section of the mast” fell during the storm.The building, “400 Central,” is expected to be completed in the Spring and open to residents in the Summer, according to WTSP.

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Petersburg’s city building official, Don Tyre, said the three cranes at the construction site used to build the massive skyscraper...