Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Hornets Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Hornets Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29, 2005 and caused extensive damage to the New Orleans Arena. As a result, the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s New Orleans Hornets were unable to play any home games at the Arena for both the entire 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, and temporarily relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to became the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. After playing the majority of home games for both the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, the Hornets returned to New
Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Saints officials were only doing what any city seeking a franchise would do—recruit the franchise. On October 21, 2005, Benson issued a statement saying that he had not made any decision about the future of the Saints. However, the "San Antonio Express-News" reported that sources close to the Saints' organization said that Benson planned to void his lease agreement with New Orleans by declaring the Louisiana Superdome unusable. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue met with Benson and Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco at the Saints' first home game in Baton Rouge on October 30 against the Miami Dolphins. After the meeting, he stopped