Three associations announced this week they had either canceled or scaled back events held in two southeastern states as Hurricane Matthew approached the U.S. coast.

The American Nurses Association announced Wednesday that organizers would wrap up an association-sponsored conference at noon today because of the risk of severe weather. The event, which started Wednesday, had been scheduled to end Friday afternoon.

The Mortgage Bankers Association of the Carolinas indefinitely postponed its annual convention and trade shows in Hilton Head Island, S.C., which was originally scheduled to kick off Tuesday. The Florida School Nutrition Association canceled its annual Equipment and Food Expo in Orlando, which was to begin Friday.

Hurricane Matthew is expected to possibly make landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm either late Thursday or early Friday morning, according to news reports. Weather forecasts have the storm traveling north along the coast until it turns back out to sea in the Carolinas on Sunday.

Despite the possibility of severe weather, at least one trade association event was continuing as planned. The organizers of the International Boatbuilders Exhibition & Conference in Tampa, which is co-owned by the National Marine Manufacturers Association, said they were monitoring the hurricane but had no plans to change the schedule of the event, which is wrapping up today.

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