All North Carolina home athletic events are canceled for this weekend, the University’s athletic department announced in a statement on Tuesday through Go Heels.
With Hurricane Florence bearing down on the North Carolina coast, the University notified faculty and students Monday night that classes were canceled beginning at 5 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
The Category 4 storm is expected to make landfall Friday morning, but tropical storm-level winds could reach the North Carolina and South Carolina coasts on Thursday morning, with winds increasing to the speeds of a hurricane by nighttime.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a state of emergency on Tuesday afternoon and a mandatory evacuation plan for people who live along the coast of the state. In total, over one million people face mandatory evacuation in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
With the cancellation of athletic events this weekend, the football team will not get a chance to play in the renovated Kenan Memorial Stadium for the first time. In February, the gray bleachers were replaced by blue individual seat backs in every section but the student section, cutting its attendance capacity from 63,000 to 51,000.
UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham released a statement through Go Heels regarding the cancellation of the game against Central Florida.
“Hosting a major college football game is a massive undertaking that on a good day involves fans and thousands of state, local and campus personnel, including public safety officials, traveling from all over the area,” Cunningham said. “The current forecast for both the impact and aftermath of the hurricane would require those officials to divert critical resources from what could be much more significant duties. We can’t know for certain the amount of damage the storm will inflict, but the sensible decision at this time is to not play the game.”
UNC and UCF have not yet determined if the game will be rescheduled, but all tickets sold through Carolina Athletics will be automatically refunded.
“We are disappointed for both teams and their fans,” Cunningham said. “We wish UCF good luck the rest of the season and appreciate (athletics director) Danny White’s and (executive associate AD) David Hansen’s consultation and cooperation in making this decision. We look forward to our game at Kenan Stadium against Pitt on Sept. 22.”
