FEMA, NFL to use stadiums as emergency shelters: What to know [Video]

Football season may be in full swing, but federal emergency planners have designated another purpose for NFL stadiums — as emergency shelters.

Four stadiums in disaster-prone regions around the country will do double duty in the event of extreme weather as part of a partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Football League to to build resilience in communities through an initiative called Mission Ready Venues.

Recent storms, such as Hurricane Helene, which barreled through Florida’s Gulf Coast last week, are “are another 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, said in a statement to ABC News on Wednesday.

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, home of the New York Jets and New York Giants; Lumen Field in Seattle, home to the Seattle Seahawks; Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, home to the Pittsburgh Steelers; and Raymond James Stadium …