NFL stadiums to serve as emergency shelters during disasters: What to know amid rising extreme weather events

While football season is in full swing, federal emergency planners have assigned NFL stadiums an additional role, turning them into disaster recovery centers.

Four stadiums located in areas prone to extreme weather will double as recovery hubs in the event of a natural disaster. This is part of a partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Football League (NFL), designed to strengthen community resilience under the initiative called Mission Ready Venues.

Recent events, like Hurricane Helene that recently hit Florida’s Gulf Coast, serve as a “reminder that planning and resource delivery is critical to a recovery effort,” Brendon Plack, the NFL’s senior vice president of public policy and government affairs, mentioned in a statement to ABC News on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Kirk Cousins’ Career-High Passing Yards, KhaDarel Hodge TD in overtime help Falcons defeat Tampa Bay

NFL stadiums prepared for disaster relief

FEMA announced that several NFL stadiums—

• MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey (home of the New York Jets and Giants);
• Lumen Field in Seattle (home of the Seahawks);
• Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh (home of the Steelers);
• Raymond James Stadium in Tampa (home of the Buccaneers)

—will now be designated for emergency use during large-scale crises.

These venues will act as centralized, accessible locations, offering safe storage and shelter during emergency response and recovery efforts when extreme weather hits, according to FEMA.

“During large-scale emergencies, like the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, or tornados, we’ve seen how large music, sports, and entertainment venues can serve as a safe space for communities,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell in a statement. “This new strategy we’re launching with the NFL is a groundbreaking opportunity to help our partners use these venues for emergency response and recovery needs, while keeping communities safe and making them more resilient.”

Stadiums as critical spaces during public health and disaster events

When Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, tens of thousands of New Orleans residents found refuge in the Superdome. After the storm severely damaged the Superdome, officials relocated people to Houston’s Astrodome.

In 2021, NFL stadiums played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming into mass vaccination hubs and administering over a million vaccine doses.

READ MORE: VIDEO: Mike Evans’ special moment with fan after 100th career touchdown goes viral

Picture Credit: © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images