Crowdstrike outage still impacting travelers; MSP headed in the right direction
Friday's global outage impacted millions across the country, here in Minnesota, the struggle continues. In 2022, the Twin Cities chapter of Stonewall Sports bid to host the national tournament in Minnesota in 2024.
This week was finally their moment to shine until a nationwide outage disrupted health systems, kept television networks in the dark and grounded flights.
Ryan Smith woke up Friday morning excited to travel until he checked his phone and Delta canceled his flight from Ohio to Minnesota. Leaving him stuck with no way of getting to Twin Cities for the National Stonewall Sports Tournament.
"I did not know what to do," Smith said. "I got merged to a call with five of us trying to figure it out."
Luckily, he found a one-way flight reasonably priced.
"We were so dedicated this is a highlight of the year, I couldn't miss this," he smiled.
Not everyone was as fortunate. National Stonewall Sports Tournament Director Suzanne Blum Grundyson said dozens of people canceled due to flight cancellations.
"We had a lot of emails, phone calls asking for cancellation policies," Grundyson said.
She says this weekend is all about community and competition for LGBTQ+ people in the world of sports.
"For a lot of LGBTQ+ people sports haven't always been a safe venue for us," she said.
That's why she isn't surprised the great lengths people are taking to participate.
"We actually had player at the kickball field today with a suitcase because he came straight from the airport," Grundyson said. " Others hopped in a car from Denver and Indianapolis."
Despite the disruptions, that she says will ultimately lead to financial impacts Grundyson says this community is resilient and taking things in stride.
"It's a good reminder for us we can only control what we can control we all pull for each other so we adapted our substitution policies so players can play for other teams," she said.
The tournament wraps on Sunday with many people nervous about heading back to the airport to head home.
"I'm not sure where my flight stands," Smith stated.