Hurricane Katrina closes ports

Newly upgraded to hurricane status, with sustained winds at least 74 miles per hour, Katrina will make landfall in the next few hours. The Coast Guard closed Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) and the Port of Miami, causing changes to itineraries of a number of ships including Carnival's Imagination and Fascination, and Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas and Majesty of the Seas. Passengers on ships sailing this weekend are advised to check their cruise line's Web site for updates.

For those of you keeping score at home, Katrina is the 11th named storm this season, with several months remaining. The forecasters were right...this hurricane season likely will be well above the long-term average of 10 named storms.

UPDATE 8/27/05: Having battered Florida while scooting across the state and into the Gulf of Mexico, Katrina is strengthening and could disrupt Carnival Conquest's New Orleans turnaround August 28. Carnival is quite good about posting timely weather updates on their home page, so potentially impacted guests should check there regularly.

National Hurricane Center Updates