Travelers return for baggage after power outage at Oakland International Airport

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Hundreds of people had to return to Oakland International Airport to pick up their bags Wednesday morning after last night's major power outage. The baggage conveyor system was down while people were left stranded. It was a mess. On Wednesday, we got some answers.

"Flight 1265 from Seattle, carousel 5," that was the announcement made overhead to passengers arriving at Oakland International Airport.

Claiming your luggage may be the most annoying part of anyone's journey. Add to that, trying to find your bags today after they arrived the night before without you.

"Came down here and had to wait about 30 minutes before we were told we had to come back this morning to pick up our bags," explained Ron Boxman of Danville.

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A major power outage crippled Oakland International Airport for several hours last night. Power was restored by 10 p.m.

Planes remained on the tarmac. The baggage claim area was in the dark, so was security.

A spokesperson for the airport said there was never any danger of anyone getting past security because screenings were halted.

The power failure even triggered the fire alarm, visible there in red.

About 1,400 passengers had to be re-booked. Danyelle Matthews, on her way home to Oakland, was left stranded in Phoenix.

"No hotel, no food vouchers, nothing just sleeping at the airport with hundreds of other angry people," complained Matthews.

Maria Lopez arrived last night from Mexico. She was promised by the airline that they would deliver her bags to her home in Cloverdale -- a promise they couldn't keep.

"I called and they said extra charge to deliver to my house."

"You're not mad," asked ABC7 News reporter Lyanne Melendez.

"Yes!"

"You don't look mad," said Melendez.

"Oh yeah because I have to go to work and I'm not at work," said Lopez.

Oakland International Airport says it's still investigating the cause of the power disruption that affected terminal and flight operations last night.

Nearly 48,000 travelers were expected to come through here on Wednesday.

Airport officials were hoping people affected would take a "forgive and forget" approach.