Houston’s major airports have become the epicenter of the federal government shutdown’s devastating impact on air travel, with passengers facing unprecedented wait times of up to five hours at security checkpoints as Transportation Security Administration

The TSA callout rate hit 10% just before the shutdown ended in 2019, more than three times the normal rate. A spokesperson for the agency said it did not have similar data available, but some airports have cited unscheduled absences for longer-than-usual lines.