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American football's New Orleans Saints could be marching out of the storm-damaged Superdome, seen here, and moving next week's workouts for their season opener to Texas because of damage here from Hurricane Katrina(AFP/Getty Images/Chris Graythen)
NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) - American football's New Orleans Saints could be marching out of the storm-damaged Superdome and moving next week's workouts for their season opener to Texas because of damage here from Hurricane Katrina.
Two holes were punched in the roof of the 80,000-seat domed stadium Monday as people took refuge inside, trying to escape the hurricane's fury. Flooding and wind damage was expected to take a heavy toll on the surrounding area.
The National Football League club flew Sunday to San Jose, California, to escape the storm's wrath. The Saints play their final pre-season exhibition game at Oakland on Thursday before returning here to assess the damage.
"Our plans for flying home will be determined once we see what kind of condition the city is in," Saints spokesman Greg Nensel said. "We are all hoping for the best for the city and the people that remain."
Club officials were looking at conducting next week's workouts, ahead of their September 11 opener at Carolina, in Houston or Dallas, Texas, or possibly at Louisiana college facilities in Shreveport or Lafayette, depending on the damage in New Orleans.
The Saints' home opener against the New York Giants on September 18 will be played, but whether the game is played in the Superdome will depend upon the recovery of the city and stadium over the next three weeks.
Relocating the game to another city would not be unprecedented. On October 27, 2003, the San Diego Chargers lost 26-10 to Miami in Tempe, Arizona, while their home stadium was being used as a shelter for wildfire evacuation victims.
The Saints were forced to relocate workouts to San Antonio, Texas, for a week last season when Hurricane Ivan struck the area, although they were able to host San Francisco that week as scheduled.
Also suffering roof damage was the 18,500-seat New Orleans Arena, the 112 million-dollar home of the National Basketball Association's New Orleans Hornets.
The arena, completed in 1999, is not set to host another Hornets game until an October 20 pre-season exhibition against reigning NBA champion San Antonio.
The Hornets' first regular season home game is not scheduled until November 4 against Sacramento.
Louisiana State University's American football team called off Monday's practice but still planned to open the season by playing host to North Texas State on Saturday at Baton Rouge, northwest of New Orleans.
Tulane University's American football squad moved to Jackson, Mississippi. The Green Wave continued preparations there for Sunday's opener at Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
Southern Mississippi's Golden Eagles practiced Sunday and took Monday off to weather the storm, planning to resume workouts Tuesday.
"We hope we can play this game," Eagles coach Jeff Bower said. "I hope that the weather won't be as bad as people are saying it could be. We're going to hunker down and be safe for a while."
The New Orleans Zephyrs, the top development team for Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals, called off their final two home games against Iowa due to the hurricane.
