New Orleans Saints on alert as Francine moves toward Louisiana

METAIRIE, Louisiana - The New Orleans Saints are monitoring the trajectory of Tropical Storm Francine closely as it is projected to strengthen into a hurricane by Monday night or Tuesday morning, as per the National Hurricane Center.

A state of emergency was declared by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry in anticipation of the approaching storm, which is forecasted to hit the southwest coast of Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane on Wednesday. New Orleans public schools will be shut on both Wednesday and Thursday.

Saints coach Dennis Allen mentioned that the team is closely monitoring the storm, just like everyone else in the city. He informed WWL Radio on Monday night that he intended to hold a Zoom meeting with the team on Tuesday, their day off, to discuss the hurricane.

Although he believed that an evacuation wouldn't be necessary, Allen acknowledged that the Saints' schedule might need adjustments on Wednesday or Thursday based on the storm's development.

Currently, the plan is to conduct practice at the Saints' facility on those days as they get ready to face the Cowboys in Texas on Sunday.

"I think we're going to meet again this afternoon and see what kind of plans we need to make and then we'll kind of go from there," Allen said on Monday afternoon. "I think we probably do this better than anybody else in the National Football League, so we'll figure it out."

On Monday, it was business as usual for the Saints.

Saints rookie wide receiver Mason Tipton, who is from Ohio and went to Yale, said he didn't know about the potential hurricane until Monday morning.

He mentioned that he expects a text from his mom reminding him to watch out for the weather, but he already heard about it earlier in the day. The Saints have had to adjust their plans numerous times due to weather-related issues.

Allen, who first joined the Saints in 2006 and then returned post the 2014 season, has faced numerous such circumstances. In 2021, due to Hurricane Ida, the Saints had to call off their preseason finale and shift their training camp to the Dallas/Fort Worth region. Hurricane Ida struck as a Category 4 hurricane on August 29, 2021, marking the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation in Louisiana.

The Saints trained at AT&T Stadium for a few days before relocating to the facilities at Texas Christian University. They also had to move their season opener against the Green Bay Packers to Jacksonville, Florida, and didn't play a home game until Week 4 of that season.

In 2020, following Hurricane Zeta, which hit Louisiana on Oct. 28, the Saints coaches operated from their Metairie facility with generator power for several days. Hurricane Zeta passed directly over New Orleans, causing a power outage at the Saints' facility and the neighboring area.