As Hurricane Irma came barreling toward Florida’s west coast, Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, became a main staging area for housing the city’s police and fire personnel as well as members of the military.
In all, the 65,000-seat stadium, opened in 1998, housed approximately 1,200 first responders during the storm. Some Buccaneers players also sheltered their families in the locker room, and a few venue employees were put to work, including catering and cleaning staff.
“Everyone had to be off the street when the storm hits, so we serve as a safe haven for first responders during the storm and after,” said Eric Hart, president/CEO of Tampa Sports Authority, which manages Raymond James Stadium. “We weren’t the only place to take these personnel, but we were the largest.”
Raymond James Stadium is rated for hurricane force winds, centrally located and on high ground in an area that doesn’t flood. “The stadium wasn’t designed as a hurricane shelter for the community, but rather a central location for emergency service personnel,” said Hart.
The facility also was used to store about 150 police, amphibious and fire department vehicles “We started seeing these modes of transport arrive a couple days ahead of the storm, but this was the first time the Marines sent their amphibian vehicles,” said Hart. “We had the building stuffed tight, with everyone positioned in different portions of the building.”
The police, fire department and military were fed three meals a day in one catering area during their stay, which lasted approximately five days.
Although the stadium was put into similar action during Hurricane Charley in 2004, this was the first time a gathering of this scope with a larger contingency of military personnel had taken place.
Hart estimated that the amount of people involved in the staging was about three times larger than any other.
About 600 officers from the Tampa Police Department utilized the west side of the venue, working in patrol and hurricane operations throughout the storm.
“We have three tiers, depending on the storm’s severity and what personnel are needed to respond,” said Sargent Jerrett Seal of the Tampa Police Department. “When we activate tier three, like in this situation, it’s all hands on deck, and we utilize the stadium.”
Eddy Durkin, Tampa Police Department spokesperson, estimates that one-third of its department was housed at the stadium during the peak of the storm.
“Once the winds died down, they could quickly deploy to the streets and assess the damage,” he said. “It’s a benefit to have our personnel and vehicles all in one safe location.”
The stadium had four of its staff members on call and 15 working in the catering and cleaning operations to accommodate the first responders.
“This time around, we learned that in the future we need more staff in the building, like electricians, caterers and cleaning staff, since we become a working city,” said Hart.