Lights On At Oakland Airport After Power Outage Disrupts Thanksgiving Travel Rush
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – The lights are back on at Oakland International Airport on Wednesday, after a power outage Tuesday night disrupted the pre-Thanksgiving travel rush.
While power is fully restored, airport officials are still trying to figure out the cause of the outage, which took place around 6:30 p.m., as a major storm passed through the Bay Area.
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Several flights were delayed and security screening had to be temporarily halted. Some arrivals continued during the outage, but several flights were diverted to Mineta San Jose International Airport and Sacramento International Airport. Power was restored around 8 p.m.
May Donald, a student at UC Berkeley, ran into major problems as she was trying to fly home to Seattle before Thanksgiving.
"There were delays, and then there was the power outage, and then there was the fire alarm, and then my flight was canceled," Donald told KPIX 5. "I was at the airport for, like, seven hours."
Wednesday is expected to be one of the busiest days of the holiday travel season at Oakland International, as millions across the country travel ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Before the outage, airport officials estimated it would welcome at least 47,500 passengers on Wednesday alone.
As of early Wednesday, there are a handful of delays and cancellations at Oakland, but it is not immediately clear if the issues are related to the outage or the storm.