Honolulu airport air conditioning restored, carpet replaced after flood damage
The air-conditioning at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, where flooding occurred at Terminal 1 was restored at 8 p.m. Thursday after a chiller line broke early that morning.
All hands were on deck, and staff went above and beyond to clean the mess and replace the carpet in the flooded holding area — between gates A13 and 17 — at Terminal 1, also known as the Neighbor Island Terminal, in a day, according to Hawaii Department of Transportation spokesman Jai Cunningham.
“What a difference a day makes,” said HDOT in a tweet, sharing before and after photos. “Daniel K. Inouye Airport team took A Gate lobby from flood zone to refurbished! Job well done HNL Team!!!”
The flooding occurred around 6:30 a.m. Thursday after an air conditioning chiller line broke and thousands of gallons of water poured down onto the floor below, according to state officials.
The initial cost estimate for the emergency repairs is about $70,000, said Cunningham. The damaged carpet area that was replaced measured roughly 9,000 square feet.
Although it was initially reported that no flights were impacted, some were delayed due to the flooding on Thursday. Some areas were also devoid of air-conditioning as repairs continued.
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Also, several K9 units had to be brought in to assist at Transportation Security Administration inspection areas, where machines were shut down as a safety precaution.