Charley caused minor damage to Port Canaveral

[Jason]

Port Canaveral receives only minor damage

BY SCOTT BLAKE

FLORIDA TODAY

PORT CANAVERAL -- Port Canaveral reopened Saturday after getting through Hurricane Charley with minimal damage and shipping disruptions, a port official said.

Some cruise passengers missed their voyage Friday when the Coast Guard ordered all cruise and cargo ships out of Port Canaveral by 3 p.m. as the hurricane was approaching.

That forced the only cruise ship in the port, Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas, to depart for a weekend Bahamas cruise about two hours ahead of schedule. Some passengers didn't make it in time and had to stay at local hotels.

The Coast Guard stopped all vessel traffic within the port until 7:15 a.m. Saturday.

The closure delayed two incoming cruise ships -- Carnival Cruise Lines' Glory and Disney Cruise Line's Magic -- from docking by about two hours Saturday.

Sansom said the storm knocked out power to two cruise terminals, but at least one was getting electricity from a backup generator.

Tropical storm-strength winds caused some minor roof damage at NASA's Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force Base. Some trees were downed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick, officials said.