Tag: Hurricane Idalia

Gators change travel itinerary with Hurricane Idalia looming

As the state of Florida braces for Hurricane Idalia’s impact, the Gators are adjusting their travel schedule to avoid the storm entirely.

With the college football season just days away from kick-off, most of Florida is tracking the movement of Hurricane Idalia, which is expected to make landfall on the west coast of the state Tuesday night.

To avoid any weather-related delays, the Gators football team will fly to Dallas, Texas, on Tuesday and spend the night before traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah, on Wednesday, according to ESPN and a team spokesperson. The initial plan was to take a straight flight from Gainesville to Salt Lake City, but the storm forced head coach Billy Napier to call and audible.

Finding a last-minute hotel that could accommodate a Division I football team and staff proved difficult, but Napier sees some silver linings.

“This could end up being a positive,” Florida head coach Billy Napier said. “We break the flight up. We get the players and the staff into Dallas, get a good night’s rest, a little extra focus and then obviously get to spend some more time together. We see that being positive.”

The University of Florida is actively monitoring Hurricane Idalia and has closed campus through Wednesday, Aug. 30. All academic and student-related activities, including online classes and exams, will also be canceled during that time, per the school’s emergency system.

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Doug Pederson: Jaguars keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Idalia

The Jaguars haven’t made any plans regarding Tropical Storm Idalia, but they’re monitoring the potential hurricane as it approaches Florida.

The Jacksonville Jaguars haven’t made any plans regarding Tropical Storm Idalia, but head coach Doug Pederson said the team is monitoring the potential hurricane bearing down on Florida.

“We’ll keep an eye on it,” Pederson told reporters Monday afternoon. “Late tomorrow and into Wednesday and then all-day Wednesday we will monitor that and see where it’s going. We went through this last year with a couple of storms that came through. This one might come a little bit closer than those two did, so we’ll just keep an eye on it and make decisions as we go. We got this place and an indoor facility if we need to use it, so we’re looking forward to that.”

A year ago, Hurricane Ian hit Central Florida in late September, causing an estimated $115.2 billion in total damages. The Jaguars were prepared to leave early for a Week 4 road game against the Philadelphia Eagles, if necessary, but Pederson told reporters at the time that he’d rather not leave his team’s families fending for themselves.

Tropical Storm Idalia is expected to reach North Florida sometime on Wednesday and is forecast to become a hurricane before its arrival.

The Jaguars and the rest of the NFL will have the weekend off before the regular season begins on the second weekend of September. The Jaguars will travel to face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Sept. 10.

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