ALERT: Tropical Storm Harvey (August 29, 2017)
August 29, 2017
Tropical Storm Harvey continues to cause massive flooding. According to the National Hurricane Center: “Harvey is expected to be just offshore of the middle and upper coasts of Texas through tonight, then move inland over the northwestern Gulf coast on Wednesday.”
Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) is closed to all commercial flights. United Airlines tweeted that IAH, one of its hubs, will remain closed until noon on Thursday. Hobby Airport, in Houston, is also closed until further notice.
Cruise lines have diverted ships and canceled sailings. Major airlines have extended their travel waivers, including: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. The waivers include Houston, New Orleans and San Antonio, as well as smaller airports throughout the impacted areas.
USA Today reports:
The director of the National Weather Service warned that the flooding will worsen in the coming days as an additional 20 inches of rain could fall on top of the more than 30 inches that some places have already seen.
Harvey, now drifting near the Texas coast about 40 miles east-northeast of Port O’Connor, Texas, was forecast to move back into the Gulf of Mexico Monday, the National Hurricane Center said. It will meander over the Gulf for a couple of days before making a second landfall somewhere near the Texas/Louisiana border, likely on Wednesday.
Harvey is then expected to slowly move northeast across Louisiana and Arkansas as a tropical depression from Thursday into Saturday.
According to Cruise Critic:
Carnival will be rerouting all three of its ships that were currently scheduled for Galveston — Carnival Breeze, Carnival Valor and Carnival Freedom — to New Orleans over the next few days, where passengers will be allowed to disembark and make independent arrangements to travel home. Passengers also have the option to stay onboard for the return to Galveston. All three ships will head toward Galveston after Wednesday to be in position to dock, once the port opens.
All sailings this week for Carnival Valor, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Breeze have been canceled, including Valor’s Aug 31 departure. A full refund will be provided to passengers who were scheduled to be on the cruises, as well as a 25 percent future cruise credit if booked within the next 60 days. See below for more details.
Royal Caribbean had originally planned to debark passengers on Liberty of the Seas late on Sunday and embark new cruisers on Monday. But the port remained closed, and Royal Caribbean had no choice but to find an alternative.
An official statement from Royal Caribbean regarding the Liberty of the Seas includes:
Liberty of the Seas will arrive in Miami, Florida on Tuesday morning instead to reprovision the ship. Liberty of the Seas will then return to Galveston on Friday, September 1. Guests on Liberty of the Seas will have the option to disembark in Miami, if they desire.
Due to the delays, the August 27 sailing of Liberty of the Seas is cancelled.
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