The effects of Hurricane Florence are expected to be wide-ranging—and potentially devastating—as it was set to make landfall along the Carolinas in the early hours on Friday.
The storm, downgraded to a Category 2 on Thursday, is forecast to bring torrential rain and winds up over 100 miles per hour.
"Category of the storm is only related to the wind," the National Weather Service wrote in an update. "It does not tell you about all of the impacts with a hurricane like Florence. Our impacts have not changed with storm surge and catastrophic flooding. Do not let your guard down."
That sort of damage in mind, numerous sporting events in the Carolinas have been canceled.
Here's a quick run-down of what's been canceled and what has not—at least for the time being.
NCAA football:
-East Carolina at Virginia Tech, scheduled for Saturday: canceled.
-Ohio at Virginia, scheduled for Saturday: Will now be played at Vanderbilt in Nashville with a scheduled start time of 4:30 p.m. ET.
-University of Central Florida at North Carolina, scheduled for Saturday: canceled.
-Marshall at South Carolina, scheduled for Saturday: canceled.
-Boston College at Wake Forest, scheduled for Thursday: The game is still on but had its kick-off moved up two hours to 5:30 p.m.
-Georgia Southern at Clemson, scheduled for Saturday: The game is expected to be played but the start time was pushed up three-and-a-half hours to noon.
-West Virginia at North Carolina State, scheduled for Saturday: canceled.
-Southern Miss at Appalachian State, scheduled for Saturday: canceled.
-Norfolk State at Liberty, scheduled for Saturday: canceled with a December 1 reschedule date.
-Robert Morris at James Madison, scheduled for Saturday: moved to Thursday at 7 p.m.
-Old Dominion at Charlotte, scheduled for Saturday, moved to Thursday at 4 p.m.
-Colgate at Furman, scheduled for Saturday: canceled.
NFL
NFL says it is monitoring Hurricane Florence developments for possible scheduling effects on Sunday's Redskins-Colts game at FedEx Field. The league calls it "routine monitoring" at this point but says it will remain in contact with the teams and local authorities this week.
— MarkMaske (@MarkMaske) September 12, 2018
No games had been affected as of Thursday afternoon, but some were on the radar for the league, including Indianapolis at Washington and the Carolina Panthers at the Atlanta Falcons. The NFL Network reported that the Panthers were considering leaving the state early for its Sunday game in Georgia. Florence isn't expected to hit the D.C. area directly but it could complicate the matchup between Indianapolis and Washington. The Panthers-Falcons game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m., as is the Indianapolis-Washington game.
MLB
It's possible the rain and winds that come from Florence as it tracks up the East Coast could affect home games for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. No games have yet been canceled.
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