Services down across multiple state agencies, counties due to ongoing tech outage

Passengers urged to check with airlines directly before arriving for Friday flights as tech outage continues

A technology outage affecting Microsoft systems is causing widespread problems around the world, and a big part of it are flights being canceled – including some at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The tech outage affecting numerous entities worldwide is also impacting multiple state government departments here in Minnesota.

As reported earlier on Friday by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, services in Minnesota have been down due to a tech outage affecting multiple systems, including Microsoft systems. This has grounded multiple flights in the Twin Cities area, creating a large pileup of people in the airport.

Other transportation services are also being impacted.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation said its EZ Pass gates, which are operated by computer, are having issues, preventing some gates from opening Friday morning. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has also found that services at some Minnesota DMVs are essentially shut down as they are unable to process anything.

Metro Transit posted on social media that it is experiencing temporary disruptions to the systems customers use to access real-time information. That includes trip planning tools, its web store and other applications. However, it added that buses and trains are operating as intended.

Other departments, such as the Minnesota Department of Public Safety and Bureau of Criminal Affairs, have offline websites.

Local entities haven’t been spared either.

Ramsey County reports that many of their computers are down, limiting what services they are able to provide.

However, law enforcement agencies have reported they are still able to respond to 911 emergencies.

The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office said 911 emergency communication was functioning, without any disruptions despite the outage.

Washington County also posted on social media, saying state systems the county uses for various services are being affected by the outage, leading to limitations in certain services.

There is still no word yet of when the outage will be fixed.