New Orleans Saints cancels game against Arizona Cardinals amid Hurricane Ida

The New Orleans Saints canceled its Saturday home game against the Arizona Cardinals amid the impact of Hurricane Ida.

The Saints said in a statement that the decision was made “in the best interests of all personnel that may have been directly and indirectly affected by the storm.”

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time at Caesars Superdome, but the team announced earlier on Friday that kickoff would be moved up to noon amid the impending storm. The team later canceled the game completely.

UPDATE: due to the impending impact of Hurricane Ida, the Saints-Cardinals game has been canceled https://t.co/q5RTCdQCuV

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 27, 2021

The team encouraged residents to take precautionary measures to remain safe throughout the hurricane, and the Cardinals said on Twitter that its plane was being diverted back to Phoenix.

Due to the impending impact of Hurricane Ida, our preseason game in New Orleans has been canceled.

Our team plane is being diverted back to Phoenix.

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) August 27, 2021

The announcement came shortly after Ida was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane with winds of 75 miles per hour.

Ida made landfall on Friday in Cuba’s Isle of Youth, and the center of the hurricane is approaching western Cuba.

The hurricane is expected to hit the U.S. Gulf Coast by Sunday, with hurricane and storm surge warnings issued for portions of the region.

The National Hurricane Center said Louisiana and Mississippi could see flooding “10 to 15 feet above ground level.”