Temporary chillers being used at Bush Airport after 2 are unexpectedly down, officials say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- After air conditioning units at George Bush Intercontinental Airport went out on Monday, a temporary fix that happened overnight means temperatures are bearable again.

As of 1:30 a.m., Bush Airport officials said maintenance had put a patch on the broken chillers and placed three new temporary chillers outside. They're plugged into the main plant that powers the whole AC system.

Officials say it will feel a lot cooler Tuesday than on Monday -- about 74 degrees.

But, the city of Houston is headed into consecutive 100-degree days.

ABC13 asked Aurra Martinez, who was on her way to Guatemala, if she was worried about how hot it was going to be when she got to the airport.

"Oh, it's fine," she said. "I'm going on vacation. I'm going to enjoy it!"

Normally, there are six chillers running to keep the airport cool, but two are down. Airport officials say that's super unusual, and, they're not sure why it happened. It could be an issue from the storms over the weekend that they're investigating.

The airport reached nearly 80 degrees on Monday.

"Our customer service team is wandering through the terminals providing water to the customers and keeping track of areas that are cooling places in the terminal. Again, there are cool places in the terminal. It's 77, 76 degrees," Jim Szczesniak, the chief operating officer for Houston Airport System, said. "Our goal for the terminal today is 74 degrees plus or minus two degrees."

When will everything be back to normal? Airport officials haven't said how long that will take, but they told ABC13 that maintenance crews haven't stopped working on the issue.

ORIGINAL REPORT: Temps inside IAH reach nearly 80 degrees after 'unexpected' AC issues, airport officials say

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