Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Water main breaks at Kennedy airport
Flooding in key New York City terminal adds to winter storm delays
A terminal at Kennedy International Airport was evacuated Sunday afternoon after a water main broke, causing flight delays and exacerbating other lingering effects of Thursday’s winter storm.
Images from a CNN report showed standing water in Terminal 4 in the busy New York hub.
Passengers should expect flight delays and check with their airlines before heading to the airport, the airport tweeted.
Terminal 4 is a major gateway for international arrivals at JFK and serves as an international hub for Delta Air Lines, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Sunday’s flooding is the latest of many troubles at the airport since Thursday’s storm. Scores of flights have been rescheduled since Thursday, leaving hundreds of travelers stranded. Travelers on Saturday faced a series of issues, including frozen equipment breakdowns, difficulties in baggage handling, staff shortages, and heavier than typical passenger loads, the port authority said.
The problems prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to divert more than a dozen flights Saturday night.
“Frigid temperatures continue to cause equipment failures and slower than normal operations,” the Port Authority said in a statement Sunday. “Customers may experience residual delays, particularly for international flights.”
Airport spokesman Scott Ladd said the water main break occurred just before 2 p.m.; the cause is being investigated.
“There are about 3 inches of water inside the west end of Terminal 4,” Ladd said. “We have maintenance crews on the scene mopping and cleaning up. The inner roadway at the arrivals area is closed due to excess water, but the outer roadway is open.”
International flights to Terminal 4 have been suspended, he said. Passengers who have already arrived are being deplaned and taken to other terminals for processing.
The airport’s runways and taxiways were fully operational, the port authority said earlier Sunday, but airlines remain in recovery mode after the storm, and many hundreds of passengers are stranded from canceled flights.
Some frustrated travelers turned to Twitter. One woman photographed an enormous pile of unclaimed luggage at the airport. “The rumors are true: JFK is a nightmare,” she tweeted.
The Port Authority said there were 1,008 arrivals and departures Saturday — and 94 canceled flights.
The FAA diverted 17 flights Saturday, officials said. Terminal 1 was closed to incoming flights at 7 p.m. Many arriving planes experienced long delays in reaching gates, particularly international flights at Terminals 1 and 4. Buses ferried in passengers to the terminal from 25 planes at Terminals 1 and 4.
“These challenges left passengers on planes for extensive periods, as the airlines and terminal operators experienced delays in getting aircraft in and out of gates,” the authority said in a statement.
The blast of arctic air that engulfed portions of the East Coast broke cold temperature records from Maine to West Virginia — although a warmup is coming today.
Burlington, Vt., and Portland, Maine set records, with
Burlington falling to minus 20, beating a 1923 record by a degree, and Portland recording minus 11, also a degree below a 1941 record.
The National Weather Service said Worcester, Mass., which fell to minus 9, and Providence, R.I., which dropped to minus 3, also set record lows, as did Hartford, Conn., where the temperature dropped to minus 9, smashing a 1912 record.
Boston tied a low-temperature record set more than a century ago in 1896 of minus 2.
Record-low temperatures were also set in parts of West Virginia.
Boston temperatures should return to a more seasonable low 30s today. Boston could see temperatures in the mid-40s by Thursday and as high as the low 50s on Friday.
Many Northeast residents endured jaw-clenching temperatures and brutal wind chills over the weekend as cleanup continued from the storm that dropped as much as 18 inches of snow in some places on Thursday.
In Atlanta, forecasters warned that a mix of low temperatures and precipitation could create icy road conditions there, where the College Football Playoff national championship will be held tonight.
Traffic is expected to be heavy as thousands of out-oftowners converge on the city and as security is tightened for President Donald Trump, who is scheduled to attend the big game.