With forecasts indicating severe weather conditions related to Hurricane Matthew, Port Canaveral has just issued an evacuation order for land-side operations. This includes all guests visiting Jetty Park, including campers, marinas, and all Port businesses and tenants. The deadline to evacuate is noon on Wednesday.
On top of the land-side evacuation, the U.S. Coast Guard has given notice that Canaveral harbor will also close by tomorrow afternoon. As stated in their press release, no vessel traffic–including cruise and cargo ships, as well as recreational and commercial fishing boats –will be allowed in harbor until after the storm passes and the order is lifted.
Cruise lines that have ships departing from Port Canaveral have updated their itineraries including Disney, Royal Caribbean cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines.
“This is a serious storm and the protection of people and property is our primary concern,” said Port Canaveral CEO John Murray. “We expect high winds and storm surge throughout the port and have urged the Port community to prepare their facilities so business can resume as quickly as possible after the storm.”
Not since the string of hurricanes in 2004 with Charley, Jean and Frances that closed the port for 14 days, has Port Canaveral shut down. At that time, the harbor was closed for 11 days to ship traffic.
More updates posted soon. Please check with each cruise line’s website for more information as it is released throughout tonight.
