Storms knocked out power at Hopkins Airport, stranding travelers in long lines

CLEVELAND (WJW) – The FOX 8 I-Team found severe storms knocked out power at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, stopping air traffic and leaving passengers standing in long lines.

Tuesday evening, an I-Team camera captured endless lines in the terminal as travelers waited to book new seats after flights were delayed or canceled.

An airport spokesperson confirmed Hopkins lost power, adding that, “the airfield was temporarily closed while we cleared debris but has since reopened.”

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When we asked one woman how long she had been in line, she answered, “too long. Definitely too long.”

Another traveler described the moment when the airport lost power.

“The lights went out and it’s dark. You can’t see nothing,” he said.

At one point, we found lights on, but escalators not working. Though, we also watched an escalator start moving again as the terminal came back to life.

We took note of long lines to go through security checkpoints, so we also reached out to the Transportation Security Administration for the impact on these operations.

TSA told us its equipment was down for about 30 minutes.

For this story, no one from Hopkins Airport would answer any questions on camera.

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Meanwhile, so many travelers stood in line wondering if they’d ever get where they were going.

However, a couple of guys trying to get to New York told us they were trying to be patient.

“We’re pretty patient, I think. yeah,” one said.

Hopkins suggests checking with individual airlines for questions about specific flights.

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