Here are highlights of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed's news conference on the power outage at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday:
WHAT HAPPENED: There was a fire at one of three Georgia Power's substations at the airport, however, two of those three substations provide power the airport, Reed said. At about 1:06 p.m., a power outage occurred.
Georgia Power saw the discrepancy and within four minutes, fire units arrived at the scene. Because of the intensity of the heat, it took between 1.5 and 2 hours for the electrical fire to be contained.
"Because of the types of fumes that came through the tunnel as a result of the fire, we had to take some time before the team from Georgia Power could access the tunnels," Reed said.
Crews began to make immediate repairs to get power back up running. Concourse F (International terminal) had power by 8 p.m., and it was anticipated that power would be fully restored by midnight.
HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE IMPACTED? About 30,000 people were affected by the power outage at the airport, Reed said.
WHY WASN'T THERE A BACK-UP? Reed stressed that there are redundant systems in place at the airport, but said the switch that activates that system was damaged by the flames.
WHERE WILL THEY STAY? Shuttles and bus services are transported some folks to the Georgia International Convention Center. Additional arrangements are being made at Georgia World Congress Center, Reed said. Others will stay at nearby hotels, while some are choosing to stay at the airport, according to the mayor.
CHICK-FIL-A HELPING OUT: Reed said that Chick-fil-A was mobilizing meals for the thousands stranded at the airport by the power outage.
MY FLIGHT WAS DELAYED/CANCELED. NOW WHAT? Those who had flights affected by the power outage are encouraged to directly contact their airlines for information on re-booking flights.
WHAT CAUSED THE FIRE? According to Mayor Reed, the cause of the outage was an underground fire at one of the substations that powers Hartsfield-Jackson.
FOUL PLAY NOT SUSPECTED: Reed said that there is no evidence to suggest that the fire was intentionally set, but an investigation is underway. Terrorism can't be ruled out, Reed said.
"Because we don't know the source of the fire, we have no way of absolutely knowing at this time that our system may have been tampered with in order to create this kind of chaos and confusion," Reed said.
COMMUNICATION CONCERNS: Reed apologized for communication issues, saying that the airport began communicating around 1:38 p.m. Reed said that officials could not give an update on when the substations could be fixed until they could be accessed.
"We couldn't get the Georgia Power crew into the tunnels because of the noxious fumes. We could not subject the employees to that type of physical damage. That took time that contributed to the frustration," Reed said.
Reed said that rather than give wrong information, officials waited until they had answers to the questions people said.
THERE WAS NO LOOTING: Mayor Reed strongly refuted any rumors of looting at the airport during the outage.
WERE THERE ANY EMERGENCY MEDICAL EVENTS? Reed said they had no reports of any emergency medical events during the outage.
SHOULD THERE BE A BACK-UP TO THE BACK-UP? The mayor said that would be discussed once power was restored to the airport.
