I have seen photos of the interior after the rip in the roof, showing a ray of sunlight streaming in. There are other lights on in the dome ceiling. What disturbed me was the constant reporting of nobody knows what is going on. Every arena has a public address system. So either this arena had no back up power or no one who could give out organizing, or comforting messages. Why no battery operated two-way radios - like every boat has - to communicate with the EOC. I really cannot (do not want to) believe that NOLA lacked these things in their major shelter.
At night, during the crisis, the facility was pitch dark, according to the Aussies and others.
There was a rumor that NOLA had sold off the radios as "unneeded" a while back. No confirmation, alas.
The arena was running on generator power before the storm really hit, and all it powered was the lights - it was not large enough to power the AC system or anything other than the lights, apparently.