20,000 stuck at sea in cruise ships as Galveston hunkers down for Hurricane Harvey

FILE - From left to right Carnival's Magic and the Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas cruise ships sit in port on at the Port of Galveston in Galveston, Texas. Friday, officials said with the port shut down, around 20,000 cruise ship passengers will be stuck at sea due to Hurricane Harvey. less
With 20,000 vacationers waiting at sea on cruise ships and beach parks shuttered for the weekend, Galveston is hunkering down for the storm. But city officials were confident Friday that the island is ready for Hurricane Harvey's wrath, even as the National Weather Service announced a tornado warning Friday afternoon for Galveston, Texas City and La Marque.

"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."

But for the thousands of passengers stuck at sea on four cruise ships set to dock over the weekend - three Carnival cruises and one Royal Caribbean boat - the incoming storm could throw a wrench in the week's plans. With the port shut down to ship traffic, cruise-goers are forced to head to other ports or wait offshore - possibly all the way until Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Roger Quiroga, the Port of Galveston's external affairs director.

The mayor of Galveston, Texas warned residents on Friday to shelter in place as the city is expected to be inundated with water and storm surge from Hurricane Harvey. (Aug. 25)

Two of the ships - 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."

Meanwhile, the Carnival Breeze will spend the night docked in Cozumel and depart for Galveston tomorrow.

Galveston issued a voluntary evacuation Thursday for the west end of the island in anticipation of flooding and possible utility outages. But Friday the mayor cautioned residents against trying to leave town too late.

"Evacuation won't be much an option after 5:30 to 6 this afternoon," he said. "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."

But there's lots of water in store, too, with some 15 to 20 inches predicted to pound the island over the course of the storm, along with 2 to 4 feet of storm surge.

"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 evacuate the peninsula before ferry service is cut off.

"If Highway 87 shuts down and ferry service is suspended there will be no way on or off the peninsula," the statement warned. "Residents staying should be aware that first responders may not be able to reach them in the event of an emergency."

Although Hurricane Harvey is not expected to hit Galveston head-on, 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. Not all of the upgrades are complete, but those that are should be able to handle Category 5 conditions, he added.

City officials plan to erect barricades in low-lying areas of downtown, and there are shelter plans ready to go if necessary, the mayor said.

"There has been no panic," Yarbrough said. "I wish everyone could see the internal mechanics of what people are doing."

But if the storm heads back out to sea before regaining steam and hitting Galveston, the island could be in for some trouble. If that happens, "there here won't be time or capacity for any evacuation," the mayor said.

In anticipation of the bad weather, Galveston ISD has called off classes through Wednesday. Galveston College cancelled registration Friday and Saturday and cancelled the first day of classes Monday.

The local hospital and emergency rooms are still open, according to University of Texas Medical Branch spokesman Kurt Koopmann.

"We are not the same campus we were when Ike hit, there's been over a billion dollars of improvements done to our campus," Koopmann said. "We feel like we're in good shape today."

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Galveston Park Board shut down public beach parks as a precaution. That includes the Seawolf Park, East Beach, Stewart Beach, Dellanera RV Park and West End Pocket Parks.

The impending storm has also sparked a series of weekend event cancellations, including the ArtWalk on Saturday, the Dixie's Tupperware Party and the Sunday night Stay and Play fireworks. The Galveston Island Visitor Information Center at Ashton Villa will be closed Saturday through Monday, and the Galveston Historical Foundation will be closed for the weekend.

But despite the havoc expected over the weekend, city officials were confident the island would be back to normal in time for a booming holiday weekend.

"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."