This post will be updated. Updated: 7:02 p.m.

Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe signed a declaration for emergency for the City of Gainesville prior to Hurricane Matthew striking landfall in Florida on Thursday.
“We’re preparing for the worst,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott said. “We’re hoping for the best. And no one should take any chances.”
With that, the Southeastern Conference announced Saturday’s kickoff for LSU (3-2, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) and No. 18 Florida (4-1, 2-1 SEC) has been postponed in a news release, with no future date set for a kickoff between the two schools.
In a post-practice news conference Thursday evening, LSU athletic director Joe Alleva said “everything fell apart on Thursday.”
“I want our fans and everyone to know that LSU made every attempt to play this game,” Alleva said.
LSU offered to fly into Gainesville Sunday morning, play the game and fly back Sunday night. LSU, according to Alleva, asked Florida to play the game at Tiger Stadium Saturday or Sunday night. Alleva, even, said LSU asked to play the game in front of an empty stadium if police and other emergency personnel could not make it to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium for kickoff.
Alleva said LSU offered to fly Florida in its plane to play the game in Baton Rouge. He added the SEC office “didn’t argue” when Florida said Wednesday that the game would not be relocated outside of Gainesville.
“We made every opportunity to play it,” he said. “Ultimately the decision was made by the league office and we respect that. You have to respect safety. You have to respect Florida’s concern about safety and travel.”
Here’s how LSU, Florida’s decision to postpone played out, the SEC’s release says:
“Before deciding to postpone the game, the schools and SEC explored other date and location options, and LSU offered to either travel or host the game over the course of the weekend. Ultimately it was determined that the likelihood of damage from the storm, lack of available emergency personnel and the uncertainty of the impact of the storm on people, facilities and travel necessitated a postponement.”
LSU and Florida do not have an alike open date, as LSU’s bye week falls the week before LSU meets No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 5. Florida’s bye week is the week of Oct. 22, one week before LSU’s open date.
No date has been set on the postponed SEC matchup, but Florida, LSU and SEC officials are working to find an accommodating date, including rumors for LSU to drop its Nov. 19 home game against South Alabama.

“There’s really not a lot of opportunities. It would be very difficult to give up a home game,” Alleva answered.

Has Alleva been asked, roughly three hours after the announcement, about a rescheduled time or date?

No, he said.
“I’ve been asked by some people, have I been questioned about rescheduling the game,” he said. “I’ve been in no contact with anybody — the conference office, Florida or anybody else about rescheduling this game.”
With LSU postponing its only October away game this season, the Tigers — after LSU’s only away game last season versus South Carolina was moved to Baton Rouge due to historic flooding in South Carolina — have not played an away game in October since it traveled to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville in 2014.
“The projected magnitude of its impact and the unknown aftermath of this storm have resulted in this decision to seek another date to play the LSU-Florida game,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. 
“At this time the schools do not have a common open date on which to reschedule the game, so the schools and SEC Office will make every effort to find a scheduling solution with the possible movement of other games on the schools’ schedules,” the release said.
In preparation for Hurricane Matthew, The University of Florida’s main campus is closed on Friday.
Hurricane Matthew, which killed at least 29 people during as it barreled over Caribbean countries, is a Category 4 storm and Gainesville is expected to see tropical storm force winds at more than 30 miles per hour.
According to the Washington Post, Haiti’s interior minister, François Anick Joseph, blamed at least 108 deaths on the storm as the nation suffered winds at 145 miles per hour.
The National Weather Service sent out an alert at 10:29 a.m. CT Thursday, warning inland areas of Florida (Gainesville) to “rush their hurricane preparations to completion.”
“Tropical storm conditions are expected for inland areas,” the alert said. “Everyone should rush their hurricane preparations to completion and any remaining relocations or evacuations should be expedited as conditions will deteriorate very rapidly overnight tonight.”
Additionally: the NWS’s alert said Gainesville is expected to host tropical storm-force winds (35-45 mph with gusts of 60 mph) from early Friday morning until early Saturday morning.

Players disappointed; If not rescheduled, what happens?

If LSU and Florida do not agree on a reschedule date, LSU’s chances for postseason play is altered.
To decide which teams play in the SEC Championship Game is based on winning percentages. For example, LSU’s 6-1 record — if it were to win-out versus the SEC in 2016 — yields a lower winning percentage (0.85 percent) than another SEC team’s 7-1 record (0.875 percent), forcing LSU out of contention even if it wins its remaining scheduled SEC games.

“We’re going to shrug it off and move forward,” Orgeron said.

Orgeron, now with the game canceled until further notice, says LSU will treat this week like a normal bye week: LSU will be off Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and coaches and recruiting personnel will “hit the road recruiting” this weekend.

LSU’s players, too, were disappointed to find out the game had been postponed when Orgeron revealed the news to them between 2 and 3 p.m. on Thursday.

“It’s like daddy walked in on Christmas, and had no Christmas presents,” he said.

Orgeron, now on LSU’s makeshift bye week, will head to Hammond to watch his sons, Cody and Parker, play in McNeese versus Southeastern.

Ticket information

Tickets to LSU’s once-scheduled 11 a.m. kickoff against Florida will be valid if the game is rescheduled, LSU’s ticket office confirmed (at 3:30 p.m.) on Thursday.
A refund plan hasn’t been set in place if the game will not to be rescheduled.