WASHINGTON (TND) — FEMA and the NFL are working together to convert football stadiums into emergency shelters. Four venues were selected to be Mission Venue Ready during hurricanes, tornadoes and severe flooding.

Craig Fugate, who served as FEMA administrator during the Obama administration, said stadiums have “wraparound services.” This means that concession services, built-in security measures and the facility itself can be secured from the outside.

“It has a lot of features that you would expect in a large animal shelter,” Fugate said.

Fugate said the FEMA-NFL partnership agreement now will likely help prevent what happened during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“They didn’t have a plan, they didn’t have the resources and it wasn’t managed well,” Fugate said.

The four stadiums selected are Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, Lumen Field in Seattle and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Venues James DeMeo, a distinguished professor at Tulane University with expertise in event security, said they are already undergoing training with FEMA.

“They’re already taking classes and obviously severe weather and inclement weather is one of the many risks that come with securing stadiums,” DeMeo said.

But Fugate said it’s important to remember that these stadiums are not the primary refuges during emergencies.

“In the aftermath, people could have lost their homes, there is no place to stay and they need to be moved to a safe place,” Fugate said.

He said they should not be seen as a substitute for the need for local officials to have the ability to protect their people.

“The focus will always be on the shelters closest to your home,” Fugate said.