PITTSBURGH, Pa. (KDKA) — Four stadiums across America that are home to NFL teams could soon be used by FEMA as emergency shelters during extreme weather events.
The stadiums will be used during events such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods, and will primarily be converted into emergency shelters and hospitals, under a new partnership between the National Football League and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The four sites that have been selected to serve as “mission ready locations” are Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Lumen Field in Seattle and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles is being considered as a potential fifth venue.
“During large-scale emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes or tornadoes, we have seen how large music, sports and entertainment venues can serve as safe spaces for communities,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.
Criswell said that while FEMA is starting with the NFL, it encourages all other sports leagues to join the collaborative effort between the two organizations.
For a stadium to be designated as an emergency location, the site must be centrally located in its area, close to major highways and hospitals, and must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Stadiums are valuable community assets that are often used in times of disaster,” NFL Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier said in a statement.
Mission-ready designations will need to be renewed every five years and will be audited annually to verify readiness.
Helen heads for landing in Florida
This new partnership between FEMA and the NFL comes as Hurricane Helene hits parts of Florida and Gulf Coast.
The storm could bring “catastrophic and deadly storm surge” to the region and is expected to make landfall on Florida’s Big Bend coast late Thursday.
It is unclear whether Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium could be activated as a disaster center for this storm.
Stadiums and their role in the event of a health emergency
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, Tens of thousands of people in New Orleans took refuge inside the Superdome. People were moved from the Superdome to the Houston Astrodome after the stadium was badly damaged by the storm.
NFL stadiums across the country also played a central role in the vaccine rollout amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
CBS News
The sites quickly transformed into mass vaccination sites with more than a million vaccine doses administered at NFL stadiums.
