President Donald Trump has called off his trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to attend a college football game between Alabama and Georgia.
The trip was cancelled due to the pending arrival of Hurricane Isaias, a Category 3 storm, set to make landfall on the Alabama coast on Friday evening.
The storm is projected to move up the state throughout Saturday – bringing heavy rains and wind before petering out into a tropical depression by the early morning hours of Sunday in Tennessee.
‘Based on the fact that a huge Hurricane/Storm is coming, it is important to have our wonderful First Responders, Law Enforcement, and others, focused on that Storm, and in no way be thinking about the safety, or presence, of the President of the United States, ME!’ Trump posted to his Truth Social account just after 3:30pm ET on Friday afternoon.
‘Therefore, I will miss that potentially unbelievable Game, Alabama vs. Georgia but, hopefully, the Game will go on despite the weather! I will be visiting both of those Teams at a later date.’
In a change of plans, Trump says he has set up a rally in Tennessee to gather support for Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections this November.
President Trump is cancelling his trip to Alabama to attend a high-profile college football game
Trump will skip the contest between No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Alabama due to Hurricane Isaias
The storm, which has strengthened to Category 3 status, will make landfall on Friday evening
‘Instead, I will go to Tennessee, where we have quickly called a Big Rally in order to get our fantastic Congressional Candidates, our Great Senator, Bill Hagerty, and a woman who will go down as one of the most impactful Governors in the State’s History, Marsha Blackburn, elected!’
Georgia’s trip to Alabama is set to be one of the most important games of the college football season. The No. 2 Bulldogs’ road contest against the No. 6 Crimson Tide will have heavy implications in this season’s College Football Playoff.
However, the weather conditions may force a change of plans for the SEC and the two schools.
The rain that is expected to fall throughout the day has forced ESPN to adjust its plans for that morning’s taping of College GameDay – moving the broadcast indoors to Coleman Coliseum, the home of the Crimson Tide’s basketball and gymnastics teams.
Depending on the severity of the weather, the game could be moved to Sunday afternoon. Ten years ago, Georgia’s game at South Carolina was postponed until the following afternoon due to Hurricane Matthew’s landfall as a Category 4 storm.
The SEC said in a statement on Tuesday that it is ‘keeping an eye on forecasts and staying in communication with schools with games that could be impacted by weather.’
Current forecasts project lots of wind and rain, but little damage to Tuscaloosa as the day progresses.
Winds are projected to fall to 65mph by Saturday morning. By the evening, the heart of the storm will have passed the city and winds will have further dropped to 40mph.
