How does the Superdome prepare for tropical weather?

We've got more tropical activity in the Atlantic Basin as we get deeper into the hurricane season. Hurricane planning is essential, and the larger the operation, the bigger the logistical challenges.

Like a lot of organizations, the people who run things at the Caesars Superdome and Smoothie King Center  are concerned with how rapid storm development has become more common.

"Hurricane Ida demonstrated for us that there's an acceleration we're experiencing in some of these storms," said Superdome General Manager Evan Holmes.

Holmes said it has made it doubly important that they work faster to secure everything, and to communicate:

"We're trying to obviously protect the asset but also ensure that we're informing people that are coming to attend the event, but also our own staff," he said.

Gone are the days when the Superdome would be used as a "shelter of last resort" when storm threatens, but Holmes says there are other ways for the building to be useful,

"They'll use the Smoothie King Center as a location to deploy a lot of equipment," Holmes said. "It'll be a check-in point for folks coming in, be it the National Guard or anybody else that wants to stage."

Stadium officials say they work fast not only to secure these buildings before a storm, but also have them ready to host events as soon as possible after a storm passes.