METAIRIE, Louisiana – The New Orleans Saints are monitoring the path of Tropical Storm Francine, which is expected to strengthen into a hurricane by Monday night or Tuesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry recently declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm’s landfall. It is expected to make landfall on the southwest coast of Louisiana on Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane. New Orleans public schools will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday.

Saints coach Dennis Allen said they are monitoring the storm “like everyone else in town” and will make plans accordingly if the team needs to change its schedule this week. The team is currently preparing for a game in Dallas against the Cowboys on Sunday.

“I think we’ll meet again this afternoon and figure out what plans we need to make and then we’ll go from there,” Allen said Monday afternoon. “I think we’re probably doing it better than anybody in the National Football League, so we’ll figure it out.”

On Monday, everything went as usual for the Saints.

Saints rookie wide receiver Mason Tipton, who is from Ohio and studied at Yale, said he didn’t know about the possible hurricane until Monday morning.

“I’m sure I’ll get a text from my mom saying, ‘Hey, pay attention to the weather.’ But I heard about it this morning, so we’ll see how that goes.”

The Saints have had to create contingency plans several times due to weather issues. Allen, who joined the Saints in 2006 and then left during the 2011-2014 season, has been involved in several of them.

Due to Hurricane Ida, the Saints canceled their final preseason game of 2021 and moved their training camp to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for several weeks. Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on August 29, 2021, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall in Louisiana.

The Saints practiced for several days at AT&T Stadium before moving their training camp to the facilities of Texas Christian University. They also moved their season opener against the Green Bay Packers to Jacksonville and did not play a home game this season until Week 4.

In 2020, Saints coaches worked with generator power at their Metairie facility for several days. Hurricane Zeta, which made landfall in Louisiana on October 28, 2021, passed directly over New Orleans, knocking out power to the Saints facility and the surrounding area.

The Saints also spent a week in Indianapolis in 2008 before Hurricane Gustav made landfall, before their home opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Because of Hurricane Isaac in 2012, they practiced in Cincinnati for a few days before their final game of the season against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville. In 2013, they left a day early for a game against the Chicago Bears to avoid any potential problems caused by Tropical Storm Karen.