STUCK AT SEA:
Port closes to cruise ships as Galveston officials advise hunkering down
About 20,000 vacationers are stuck at sea on cruise ships headed for Galveston Island, with some unable to come ashore until perhaps next week because of worsening weather conditions wrought by Hurricane Harvey.
Four ships that had been set to dock over the weekend — three Carnival cruises and one Royal Caribbean boat — were turned away after the Port of Galveston closed about noon Friday with gale-force winds approaching.
Peter Simons, interim director for the Port of Galveston, said officials are still trying to determine whether it will be safe Sunday for ships to call on Galveston. One official said it could be Tuesday or Wednesday before the ships can dock if Harvey continues on its expected path toward Houston and Galveston.
“We’re working with the
cruise lines, the Coast Guard and the pilots to see what can be done to bring the cruise ships in as quickly but as safely as possible,” Simons said.
Cruising is big business for Galveston, which reported nearly 1.1 million passengers through the first seven months of this year, an increase of 8 percent from the same period last year. More than 1.7 million passengers set sail in 2016 on cruises from Galveston, and an expanded cruise terminal also opened last year.
Urged to stay aboard
Two of the ships in limbo — Carnival Freedom and Carnival Valor — were set to dock Saturday and will make stops at New Orleans instead, Carnival spokeswoman Christine de la Huerta said in a statement.
“Guests who wish to terminate their cruise at that point and disembark in New Orleans may do so,” de la Huerta said. “However, given the severity and projected path of the storm, along with potential challenges guests may encounter attempting to travel back to Galveston independently, we are strongly encouraging them to remain on board as we intend to return the ships to Galveston as soon as feasible.”
The Carnival Breeze remained docked Friday night in Cozumel, Mexico, and was expected to depart Saturday for Galveston.
Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas was keeping a safe distance behind the storm and planned to return Sunday to Galveston, officials said.
“Our intention is to keep with our original schedule for our return to Galveston,” spokesman Owen Torres said in an email. “However, we will return our guests back to Galveston only when it is safe to do.”
The closure of the port came on the heels of a voluntary evacuation announced Thursday for the West End of Galveston in anticipation of flooding and possible utility outages.
Lessons learned
But city officials were confident Friday that the island was ready for Hurricane Harvey’s wrath.
“We have a lot of experience in dealing with these issues,” Mayor James Yarbrough told reporters Friday. “Galveston’s official position is we are prepared. We’re not panicking.”
Just a few hours before the ferry shut down for the storm, however, the mayor cautioned residents about not waiting too late to leave.
“The old adage, hunker from wind, run from water, is still the gospel, and we’re at the point where we’re going to hunker down,” he said.
But there was lots of water in store, too, with some 15 to 20 inches of rain predicted to pound the island over the course of the storm, along with a storm surge of about 2 to 4 feet.
“We’re on the side that has more tornado potential,” Yarbrough cautioned. “I’m not sure I even need to say this but we expect strong rip currents so it’s not advisable to go swimming or surfing.”
On Friday afternoon, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry issued a statement urging residents of Bolivar, Crystal Beach, Gilchrist and High Island to evacuate the peninsula before ferry service was cut off.
“Residents staying should be aware that first responders may not be able to reach them in the event of an emergency,” he said.
Although Hurricane Harvey was set to come ashore early Saturday morning near Port O’Connor south of Galveston, the storm-battered island has learned some lessons about disaster survival in the wake of 2008’s devastating Category 2 Hurricane Ike.
“A lot of our infrastructure — water systems, delivery systems, wastewater pump stations, sewer systems — most of those have been upgraded,” Yarbrough said. City officials planned to erect barricades in low-lying areas of downtown, and shelters were being set up.
“There has been no panic,” Yarbrough said.
Public beach parks were closed Thursday afternoon as a precaution, including Seawolf Park, East Beach, Stewart Beach, Dellanera RV Park and West End Pocket Parks.
‘Salt in our veins’
Despite the havoc expected over the weekend, however, city officials were confident the island would be back to normal in time to the upcoming holiday.
“We’re looking forward to a wonderful Labor Day weekend,” said Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Meg Winchester. “Hotels are business as usual right now.”
The impending storm didn’t stop tourists, either. Even as winds and rain began to pick up Friday afternoon, some island residents were still out and about, running errands and taking pictures of the roiling seas.
Academy Sports + Outdoors on Seawall drew a steady stream of lastminute shoppers, clearing out packs of dry socks and piles of rain gear.
“We’re pretty busy,” said the store director, who did not plan to close early and may open up again Saturday.
“Right now the plan is we’ll be here,” he added. “We got the salt in our veins.”