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There will be no school for Stanly County Schools students Friday due to the expected bad weather associated with Hurricane Ian, school officials said Thursday.

As a result of the National Weather Service and local emergency management services predicting that flash flooding, high wind speeds and power outages are possible Friday morning, “out of an abundance of caution, all schools will be closed for students and there will be no activities on Friday,” according to Hope Miller-Drye, administrative and school board assistant for Stanly County Schools.

“We encourage you to personally prepare and heed advice from local authorities and state emergency management officials,” the school system posted on Facebook. “Thank you for your support and patience during this time.”

Albemarle could receive up to five inches of rain tomorrow with wind gusts as high as 47 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. Rain is expected throughout the weekend.

Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwest Florida on Wednesday as a Category 4 storm but weakened to a tropical storm Thursday morning. It is expected to strengthen back to a hurricane before making landfall on the South Carolina coast Friday.