Hurricane Milton: City of St. Pete warns residents near ‘vulnerable’ construction cranes to relocate or find shelter

Tampa Bay is still well within Hurricane Milton’s path, and so are the construction cranes.

This morning, the City of St. Petersburg issued a safety advisory warning residents of four potentially dangerous tower cranes and construction sites that are “vulnerable to the forecasted high winds.”

Residents near the following cranes should either relocate or shelter in place:

• 400 Central Ave. (downtown)
• 275 1st Ave. S (downtown)
• 1000 1st Ave. N (downtown)
• 101 Main St. N (Carillon)

“The City has been in touch with the private developers managing these cranes,” said the advisory. “Due to the specialized nature of crane operations, lowering or securing a tower crane is scheduled weeks in advance and is not a feasible option within the timeframe of an approaching storm due to the rapid intensification and forecasted path.”

All roads, sidewalks, and parking zones within affected areas (see below) will be restricted due to the potential public safety hazard. If you choose to shelter in place, city officials say to move to interior areas near elevators or stairwells, which are considered the safes locations within buildings.

As of now, Hurricane Milton is projected to make landfall along west-central Florida late Wednesday night as a powerful Category 4 storm, with 130 mph winds and life-threatening storm surge.

A spokesperson for the City of St. Petersburg told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that shelters will not close.

“St. Pete’s shelters have not reached capacity,” Alizza Punzalan-Randle, Managing Director of Communications and Community Engagement for the City of St. Petersburg told CL at 2 p.m. “We highly advise that people do not drive in high winds. We recommend they evacuate as soon as possible.”

A spokesperson for the City of St. Petersburg has not yet responded to a text about the number of people currently in nearby shelters, but at a press conference happening right now, Gov. Ron DeSantis said that local shelters are still open.

City of Tampa officials have not identified any cranes that pose a threat to locals, but we’ll update this post if they do.

UPDATED 2:07 p.m. Updated with comment from a City of St. Petersburg spokesperson.

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This article appears in Oct 3-9, 2024.