METAIRIE (La. Due to Hurricane Ida's looming effects, the New Orleans Saints will cancel Saturday's preseason finale against Arizona Cardinals.
Although the Saints had initially increased the start time to 7 p.m. CT, the team decided to cancel the game on Friday afternoon due to more severe weather forecasts. Ida is expected to land in Southern Louisiana Sunday night. It could then strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 140 mph.
The Saints released a statement saying that the team's leadership made the decision "Due to the intensification and subsequent tropical update, the hurricane continued throughout the day", and in the best interest of all personnel who may have been directly or indirectly affected by the storm." "This announcement is the result of constant communication with the City of New Orleans officials as well as the National Weather Service, Homeland Security and Governor [John Bel] Edwards, and other top state officials and the National Football League. All residents in the region are encouraged to take precautionary steps to stay safe during the hurricane.
"The Saints will communicate with season ticket account holders about refunds and/or credit to their season tickets accounts."
After the Saturday game was cancelled, the Cardinals left New Orleans for New Orleans at 1:15 p.m. PDT. A statement read, "Our team plane is being diverted to Phoenix."
This is not a new thing for the Saints. They had to evacuate New Orleans in 2005 for the entire season and have since moved their practices around multiple times.
The Saints stayed home last year when Hurricane Zeta struck New Orleans in October. Coaches and other team officials rode out the storm using generator power at the team facility.
This report was contributed by Josh Weinfuss, ESPN.
