The Houston Texans are going home.

The Texans and Dallas Cowboys decided Wednesday morning to cancel their preseason game scheduled for Thursday night. That contest had been moved from Houston to Arlington, Texas — where the Cowboys play at AT&T Stadium — because of Hurricane Harvey, and all proceeds from the game were going to storm relief.

Instead, the Texans will return home Wednesday for the first time in nearly a week after authorities found a safe route for the team to drive by bus.

“Nothing is more important than our families, the safety of our loved ones and recovery of our city. We are looking forward to coming home and helping with the recovery process,” Texans general manager Rick Smith said Wednesday outside the team’s hotel in Plano, Texas, as his players prepared to make the 270-mile trip back to Houston.

More:Bell: Texans may have misguided hopes of play at home Week 1

More:SIGN UP!: NFL newsletter delivers our best coverage

The team flew from New Orleans directly to Dallas after a preseason game against the Saints on Saturday night. Harvey struck the Texas gulf coast Friday night and has caused massive flooding in the region in the days since.

As they resumed practices at the Cowboys’ facility in Frisco, Texas, Texans players heard from family members at home about evacuations and watched on television as flood waters rose. Football became an afterthought.

“We did not have the option up until today to get the team safely home,” Smith said. “So many guys are distracted by the events that are happening at home, it became increasingly difficult to ask those guys to go out and play a football game.”

Smith said he would spend much of the bus ride talking with head coach Bill O’Brien about the team’s plans once they return home. The Texans have not announced a practice schedule or other logistics leading up to their season opener Sept. 10 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, which is still scheduled to be played at Houston's NRG Stadium.

Fans who purchased tickets for Thursday’s game with Dallas at AT&T Stadium can request a refund through Ticketmaster or have the money donated to storm relief efforts. The Cowboys’ website reported Tuesday night that more than 40,000 tickets had been sold at $25 each. The Texans announced that the family of owner Bob McNair would make a donation equal to the money that would have been generated from ticket sales to the storm recovery efforts.

Houston defensive end J.J. Watt said his fundraising efforts have exceeded $6 million, and he’s increased the goal to $10 million. Watt has a team of people working in Houston to accumulate supplies like water, food and clothes and find the best location to get those items distributed Sunday.

“The first thing I’m going to do is hug my girlfriend, and then we’re going to get to work,” he said.

***

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones

NEWSLETTER:Sign up to get best NFL news each Monday

PHOTOS: Heroes of Hurricane Harvey