President made right decision to cancel rally, focus on Hurricane Florence

She's about the size of Missouri, spinning violently toward the East Coast, packing sustained winds of 140 mph with gusts strong enough to Make America Flood Again.

Hurricane Florence is a serious weather event. It's also having a ripple effect for Missouri with the cancellation of a major political event.

As disappointed as thousands of people were that President Donald Trump canceled his campaign visit to Cape Girardeau, it was the right call. Not only would the optics of campaigning during a disaster look bad, travel to and from Washington D.C. would be problematic; flights will be shut down all along the East Coast; CNN reported Tuesday that the hurricane will likely strengthen to a Category 5, before weakening and slamming into North Carolina. Then, Florence may overstay her welcome, hovering over the coast for a day or two before dissipating. Simply, the president needs to put his attention on recovery from this potential disaster rather than politics. All signs point toward a really, really bad storm. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered up and down the coast.

Our hearts and prayers go out to those in the storm's path. Our hope is that the evacuations are followed, that people get out of harm's way and that the storm weakens before landfall, sparing homes, buildings and possessions.

President Trump's visit to Cape Girardeau would have been exciting, as are all presidential visits. But this was a decision the President needed to make, and one we understand. And it doesn't preclude the President from rescheduling the much-anticipated rally in the weeks ahead.

Godspeed to those in the storm's path.