Horrific moment construction crane falls during Hurricane Milton and 'obliterates' building

A crane toppled onto a nearby building in the midst of Hurricane Milton has left everyone asking the same thing.

The category three hurricane hit parts of Florida yesterday (October 9) and, with much of the storm taking place in the dark of night, the true extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Milton is yet to be revealed.

One thing that's for sure though is that the storm (which hit category five at its peak) has caused substantial structural damage across the state, as well as flash flooding.

One building in St. Petersburg has also been badly impacted after a crane was blown over and toppled onto it.

The building is question is believed to be residential block 400 Central, as per social media reports.

Joey Krastel, Meteorologist with Maryland Dept of Emergency Management, shared photos of the aftermath of the incident - and they're pretty devastating.

In one image the wreckage of the crane that fell is seen scattered across the street, while other snaps show a photos of part of the crane toppled onto the building in question.

"The crane that came down at St Pete’s," Joey posted. "Came down and obliterated the corner of the adjacent building."

In the wake of the ordeal, people have been asking why the crane was still up when it was known that Hurricane Milton was on its way.

One person raged: "Whoever was allowed to leave that up should have to come out and clean this up tomorrow!! What the hell! What a liability to life and property."

"They need to fine the hell out of whoever left it unsecured," said someone else.

A third person questioned: "They warned in advance that these cranes could be a problem -- why didn't they move them?"

People's questions come after concerns had already been raised about some of the cranes in St. Petersburg ahead of Hurricane Milton - the one at 400 Central in particular.

Mayor Ken Welch told Fox 13 News on Tuesday (October 8): "This was a tropical storm that turned into one of the strongest storms in our nation’s history very rapidly, so we’re learning things that we’re going to use to update our processes and procedures going forward, but there’s just no way in this window of time to bring those cranes down.

"We’ve never had a storm this powerful with winds this strong that would require that."

UNILAD has approached 400 Central for comment.