Tropical Storm Fay has forced Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to scrub an unannounced trip through Eastern North Carolina this morning.

Obama had planned to fly from Orlando, Fla., to Kinston to hold a campaign event, Rob Christensen reports. He then would take a bus across Eastern North Carolina and make several unannounced stops on way to his rally in Raleigh tonight at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

But the near-hurricane in Florida caused him to cancel the eastern swing. He is still scheduled to appear tonight in Raleigh.

Although the Eastern swing had not been announced, a group of Raleigh reporters were picked up in vans at the Fairgrounds Tuesday morning, and the vans made it as far as Wilson County.

The vans stopped in Sims and sat in the parking lot of Sam's Country Grill before the trip was canceled and the news media was returned to Raleigh.

Bill Clinton is coming back.

The former president will stump for his wife's presidential campaign in North Carolina on Friday, holding "Solutions for America" events in Roanoke Rapids and Rocky Mount.

The latter event will be at 9 p.m. at N.C. Wesleyan College.

On Saturday, he'll travel to Greenville, Wilson, Goldsboro, Kinston, New Bern and Jacksonville.

The Wilson event will be at 11:30 a.m. at Barton College. 

Further details on the trip are not yet available. 

All events are free and open to the public.