Carrie Underwood’s ‘Today’ Show Concert Canceled by Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence has led to the cancellation of Carrie Underwood’s scheduled performance Friday for the TODAY Show, as coverage of the storm continues.

The morning show announced the cancellation on Twitter Thursday afternoon: “Due to NBC News’ ongoing coverage of Hurricane Florence, the concert with Carrie Underwood originally scheduled for tomorrow, September 14, on the TODAY plaza has been canceled….”

Shortly after the announcement was posted, Underwood quoted the tweet and sent her thoughts to those affected by the storm, which is set to make landfall Friday morning.

“Will miss seeing everyone tomorrow morning but keeping everyone affected by Hurricane Florence in our prayers. Please be safe out there,” Underwood wrote.

She was expected on the series as she continues promotion for her new album, Cry Pretty, which will be released Friday. Fans hoping to catch a televised performance from the singer can tune in to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Thursday night.

She is also expected to perform on CBS Sunday Morning this coming Sunday, as well as on The Ellen DeGeneres Show next week, Taste of Country reports. Underwood, who is expecting her second child with husband Mike Fisher, will embark on her headlining tour, Cry Pretty Tour 360, in May.

The storm is not expected to affect the New York City area on Friday, where the TODAY performance was scheduled to take place, though other concerts near the affected areas have been changed.

According to Billboard, Jason Aldean’s Thursday performance in Cincinnati was canceled due to flooding, and the inaugural Dreamville festival in North Carolina, which would have been hosted by J. Cole, has been postponed.

As of the latest forecasts, Hurricane Florence is expected to make landfall around 8 a.m. Friday morning. The latest update said the storm is now Category 2 but with wind gusts as strong as 105 mph.

Earlier the week, FEMA chief administrator Brock Long said the effects of the storm will be “devastating.”

“It’s not a question of ‘if’ Florence is going to impact the Carolinas and Virginia,” he said on CBS This Morning Tuesday. “It’s going to, and it’s going to be a devastating storm. I’m a North Carolina native, I grew up in Newton, North Carolina. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo — the last Category 4 hurricane storm in the Carolinas came right over my house. We were out of power for ten days. I was out of school, if I remember, for two weeks, and this storm is setting up very similar to that one.”