Dozens of flights at Detroit Metro Airport canceled due to flooded roadways

Dozens of departing and arriving flights at Detroit Metro Airport were canceled Thursday when tunnels leading to the McNamara Terminal were blocked by flood waters from torrential morning rainfall.

The airport said a pump station failed, but could not say if the failure caused the flooding or rainfall caused equipment failure.

“That’s part of our investigation — we’re looking into the root cause of why we lost power to that pump station," said airport authority spokeswoman Erica Donerson.

Access to the McNamara Terminal fully reopened around 3:30 p.m., the Wayne County Airport Authority said. The authority said one of the 13 pump stations at the airport lost power Thursday morning. The "sheer amount of rain over a short period of time is the primary driver for flooding at DTW," Donerson said in a statement.

The airport saw 3 inches of rain over six hours by 7:53 a.m., according to the National Weather Service.

There were no power interruptions to the airport in the 24 hours leading to the flooding, said DTE Energy spokesman Dave Akerly. The flooding may have caused issues with the airport's electrical equipment, Akerly said.

Meanwhile, as of 6:30 p.m. Thursday, 350 Metro Airport flights were delayed and 172 were canceled, according to FlightAware.com.

The cancellations upended travel plans for Detroit-bound travelers including in New York; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Cincinnati; Pittsburgh; and Delta's Minneapolis hub.

Incoming flights scheduled to arrive as late as 9:15 p.m. were canceled, while 68 other planes headed to Detroit Metro were listed as delayed in other airports across the country.

Departing Delta flights scheduled to leave as late as 3:35 p.m. for Lansing were canceled.

The Wayne County Airport Authority, which runs Detroit Metro, said mid-day Thursday that partial access has been restored to the McNamara terminal, the hub for Delta Airlines.

"The traveling public can access McNamara from Eureka Road via the south tunnel. The north tunnel remains closed," the airport said on a the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

More:Partial access to DTW’s McNamara terminal restored amid flooding, officials say

The delays and cancellations caused headaches from Michigan residents with plans to travel back to the state.

Aaron Kall, the head of the University of Michigan's debate program, was stranded in Milwaukee after attending the first Republican presidential debate on Wednesday night, where he offered analysis to reporters on the candidates' performance.

His late morning flight across Lake Michigan and the Lower Peninsula was canceled due to the flooding, Kall said.

Kall is a frequent Delta flyer, traveling the country to attend presidential debates during campaign season.

“It’s been a crazy weather situation all summer and this is a fitting end to it,” Kall said.