Dozens of travelers waited in baggage claim at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport on Sunday evening. They had hoped to pick up their belongings at their final destination, but their flights from Cleveland to Atlanta were cancelled.
J. D. Ellis and his wife Sabrina waited hours at the gate. Their final destination was Orlando.
“You keep asking and you don’t want to ruffle any feathers, tick anybody off, but after a while you’re ticked off and you have to listen to other people yelling and screaming and cursing,” said J. D. Ellis.
They were supposed to meet their 14-year-old granddaughter at the Orlando airport. Now, she’ll be waiting longer until another family member can meet her.
“We’re a nervous wreck,” said Ellis.
A major power outage at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta snarled air traffic across the country. For hours, no planes could land at or take off from that airport.
Annette Gaab has a special party halfway around the world.
“I wanted to surprise my mom for her 80th birthday which is in two days, so I still have time,” she said of her mother in Dusseldorf, Germany.
She was forced to stay in Cleveland Sunday night, but plans to try to flight out again on Monday.
So many people who were headed to see family for the holiday will lose precious time with loved ones. But people we spoke with were surprisingly positive.
“Frustrated, but it does happen. There’s a reason for everything so I’m okay,” said Leonard Thompson.
“Just looking at the bright side. Tomorrow may be a better day,” Robert Hall told us.
J. D. Ellis left crucial medicine in a bag he checked. It’s a mistake he says he won’t make again. But his wife knows things could always be worse.
“What I’m glad about is we weren’t in the air headed to Atlanta and not able to land. So, that’s the upside. I’m glad I wasn’t on a train in the basement of the airport when the power went out in Atlanta. At least I’m at home. I’m in my city,” said Sabrina Ellis.
Multiple flights that were supposed to take off from Atlanta and land in Cleveland were cancelled, as well.
As of early Sunday evening, Georgia Power said it believed electricity would be restored at the airport before midnight.
