Tampa mayor told NFL city could host Chiefs-Buccaneers game with Hurricane Ian gone
Clean up has started in Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian’s destructive path through the state on Wednesday.
More than 2 million people in Florida lost power, the Washington Post reported. Tampa was mostly spared, although more than 176,000 customers on the Pinellas Peninsula west of the city were without power on Thursday morning, per a Duke Energy map.
The power stayed on at Raymond James Stadium, which is still scheduled to play host to the Chiefs-Buccaneers game on “Sunday Night Football.”
A time-lapse video of the stadium showed it remained undamaged Wednesday as Hurricane Ian veered south and east of the area.
The Tampa Bay Times reported the Tampa International Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport reported no major damage, and both will reopen on Friday. That story says evacuation orders have been lifted in counties that include the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.
Tampa mayor Jane Castor tweeted that clean up has started in her city. Although the NFL is expected to decide by Friday if the Chiefs-Buccaneers game would be played at Raymond James Stadium or moved to U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Castor said she’s spoken to the league.
“On another note: we’re doing our best to keep the @Buccaneers game here Sunday. I have assured the @NFL that the only disturbance here Sunday is when the Bucs kick ass,” the mayor tweeted.
UPDATE: The Buccaneers announced the game will be played as scheduled at Raymond James Stadium.
The team made the announcement a little more than an hour after the mayor’s tweet.
This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 11:49 AM.
