Crane collapses into Tampa Bay Times’ office building during Hurricane Milton, video shows 'gaping hole’

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA: Hurricane Milton’s powerful winds led to a dramatic collapse of a construction crane in downtown St Petersburg, creating significant damage to a nearby office building.

The incident occurred at the 400 Central Avenue construction site, where a luxury condominium high-rise is being built, as reported by Fox News.

Crane topples overnight due to strong winds

At 515 feet tall, the building is set to be one of the tallest residential towers on Florida’s west coast when completed in 2025. Fortunately, there have been no reported injuries from the collapse. 

As of early Thursday, the collapsed crane continued to lie across 1st Avenue South, fully obstructing the road. The eight-story complex at 490 First Ave. S is made up of three interconnected structures, with one of the buildings dating back over a century.

A portion of the crane crashed onto an office building, leaving what local news outlets described as a “gaping hole” in the structure. The Tampa Bay Times confirmed the damage to its headquarters, which had been evacuated ahead of the storm.

The National Weather Service reported receiving several accounts of crane collapses caused by strong winds in St Petersburg, roughly 50 miles north of Siesta Key, where Hurricane Milton made landfall.

City Officials respond to Crane collapse

Don Tyre, the city’s building official, said a powerful wind gust caused part of the crane to collapse, leaving it "kind of wedged into" the damaged building. Tyre explained that despite the precarious situation, the structure is currently somewhat secure, though ongoing gusts of 40 to 50 mph are still a concern.

Plans are in place to remove the crane using a portable crane and to cut away the remaining sections, a process expected to take several days.

"It was a devastating thing when it fell. But with a failure like that, it's probably the best case scenario," Tyre said. "If it would have pulled the entire tower off, it would have probably fallen about 6 or 700 feet away and probably impacted a number of different buildings."

“It was a devastating event,” Tyre said, noting that a complete collapse of the crane tower could have caused far more widespread damage to nearby buildings. He also emphasized that wind speeds nearing 100 mph, like those seen during Milton, are rare in the area and likely contributed to the collapse.

Before the storm, St Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch voiced concerns about the stability of cranes during such extreme weather.

On Tuesday, Mayor Ken Welch urged residents living near three construction sites in downtown St Petersburg, as well as one in the Carillon area, to relocate or take additional safety precautions due to concerns surrounding the high-rise cranes at these locations.