- Severe weather battered Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this weekend.
- Storms led to hundreds of flight cancellations and the evacuation of an air traffic control tower.
- Delta said Saturday it expected continued disruption over the rest of the weekend.
Severe storms this weekend led to hundreds of flight cancellations and the evacuation of an air traffic control tower at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Heavy rainfall and high winds battered the world’s busiest airport on Friday night, prompting flash flood warnings and the temporary evacuation of a traffic control tower.
Delta, which has a major hub in Atlanta, said Saturday that its teams were working hard to restore operations but that it expected delays and cancellations to continue over the remainder of the weekend, which comes at peak travel time amid the July 4 rush.
“The storm caused hundreds of cancellations, diversions and delays across our entire system as well as an evacuation and temporary power loss at the ATL air traffic control tower,” the airline said in a statement.
“More than 100 Delta aircraft required inspection due to hail, and we anticipate several hundred more cancellations this weekend as we work to safely recover.”
The carrier, which operates around 900 flights per day from Atlanta, apologized for the disruption and encouraged passengers to check the Fly Delta app for the latest flight information.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, the Federal Aviation Administration said air traffic controllers had “returned to the Atlanta control tower after the FAA evacuated most personnel due to strong winds.”
“A few controllers remained in the facility to handle inbound aircraft,” it added.
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