President Donald Trump is headed to Alabama for the big Georgia-Bama game this weekend, but he's now right in the path of a hurricane.
Tropical storm Isaias is gaining speed and power as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico and, by the time it hits the big game, it's expected to reach a Category 2 hurricane, the Capital Weather Gang reported.
Overnight, digital meteorologist Ryan Hall said Google's AI ran 1,000 likely scenarios for Isaias, and 9 of 10 forecast top wind speeds of 110 mph. As Hall explained, that's "one mile per hour short of a major hurricane. Each dot is one run, and the pink ones are major hurricanes at that moment. Most of them reach the coast late Friday night, about 9 out of 10 on the Florida Panhandle."
"Storm surge, heavy rain and damaging winds threaten the Gulf Coast states from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle," the Weather Channel cautioned.
They also forecast landfall around 1 a.m. on Saturday. Tuscaloosa is about 250 miles from the Gulf Coast, but the game isn't set to start until 6:30 p.m. local time. No forecast shows the storm missing Alabama.
The Sun cited "weather experts" who are warning that the showdown "could be moved due to major weather reaching Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The report cited ABC chief meteorologist James Spann, who is cautioning that Isaias "could make landfall in nearby Mobile Bay."
“It would be a nightmare for everybody involved. But if we do get a Category 1, Category 2 hurricane coming right up Mobile Bay Saturday morning, I don’t know if you wouldn’t be playing that game in Tuscaloosa," he told AL.com.
"You have the chance of winds gusting to 50 miles an hour, torrential rain and the chance of isolated tornadoes on top of everything else," he continued. “The idea of moving the game… It’s clearly on the table.”
The SEC said Tuesday that it was monitoring the storm and may move it to avoid the storm.
The game will be Trump's second visit to Alabama in eight days.
Equity research analyst Brett Gibbs also remarked that the southern gulf area and at or near the hurricane's path are three sizable renewable diesel facilities: Chevron Geismar, DGD Norco, SBR Chalmette. They're in Louisiana between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Gibbs added, "Something to watch and could be part of today's bean oil move..."
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) is already calling on residents to begin preparations.
