Hurricane Helene has made its way through Florida’s Big Bend region. Following the Category 4 storm, the Florida A&M University athletic facilities “appear to be indecent shape,” according to Acting Athletic Director Michael Smith. The university’s Office of Facilities, Planning, Construction, and Safety will further assess the damages.

“Our university athletic facilities team is doing their assessments in conjunction with the university’s EOC team to determine if there are any damages,” Smith told the Tallahassee Democrat. “Once that assessment is done, we’ll be able to determine what the next steps are.”

Hurricane Helene left thousands without power, triggered catastrophic flooding, and damaging winds generated multiple destructive tornadoes. Thus far, the death toll has risen to eight in Florida and 45 in total across other states. Neighboring school, Florida State University’s athletic facilities are still standing as well.

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The hurricane unexpectedly postponed football activities at Florida A&M this week. Following practice on Tuesday, the university announced that the team’s upcoming Southeastern Athletic Conference home opener against Alabama A&M University had been postponed due to Hurricane Helene's arrival. The game was rescheduled for Friday, November 29, at Bragg Memorial Stadium. Head football coach James Colzie III gave the team the rest of the week off due to the storm and will return to practice on Monday after facilities assessments are completed.

Next Saturday, October 5, the Rattlers will travel to Montgomery to play the Alabama State Hornets in a Week 6 SWAC matchup after an unforeseen bye week. It's going to be Florida A&M’s first SWAC game of the season. This Saturday, Alabama State plays Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach to kick off their SWAC schedule. According to the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll, the Rattlers (2-2) are ranked number 21st in the poll. The last game Florida A&M played was on September 21, when they went to Troy and lost to the Trojans 34-12.