The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:29 PM

Atlanta Airport Power Outage Affected East TN Travelers

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. SOURCE: WIRES, WVLT-- The power outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Sunday left thousands of travelers around the country in limbo.

"I was trying to get back for a Christmas party and have a good time and boom, that's canceled," said traveler Stephon Dingle.

Dingle deliriously recorded himself on Instagram, showing how he'd been stuck in what he called a cold Miami airport for over six hours.

"It was like frigid; I mean, they gave you one little skimpy blanket, and I used my suitcase as a pillow," said Dingle. "I mean, it was the coldest."

Dingle ended up catching a flight to Columbia, South Carolina. He said his friend was going to take him from the airport to Augusta, where another friend was going to drive him back to Atlanta.

"Nobody has been stuck here at McGhee Tyson this morning, which we're very thankful for," said Cailtin Darras, spokesperson for McGhee Tyson Airport.

Darras said the airport faced three cancellations and two delays.

"The flights that were canceled this morning were canceled last night, and we hope that the cancellations and the delays and everything is back to normal within 48 hours."

Meanwhile in Atlanta, cell phone video showed University of Tennessee graduate Destini Long reconnecting with her checked bag after flying in from New York Sunday.

"The bags got lost because they weren't able to be put on the conveyor belt because it wasn't running," said Long. "There was no power."

Long said she left the busy airport empty handed and frustrated.

"I didn't have anything," said Long. "I had to go buy all new toiletries, new everything in order to get dressed this morning."

As darkness fell on the busiest airport in the world, some travelers still made light of a bad situation.

"I'm just thankful to hopefully get closer to my car that has been sitting there, and I want to get home because I don't want to see another airport at all," said Dingle.