Atlantans react to terror attacks in Brussels

ATLANTA - The flags are at half-staff at the State Capitol after Governor Nathan Deal ordered the flags be lowered in memory and as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in the Brussels terrorist attacks. 

“I just could not believe it, it was numbing,” said Anton Mertens, a local attorney living in Atlanta and the Chair for the Atlanta Brussels Sister City Committee.

Mertens was in Puerto Rico traveling with his wife when he heard the horrific news about the attacks in his hometown.  He immediately thought of his mother and brother who live in Brussels, not far from the terrorist bombings.

“Got an email from him right away and called him and made sure he was alright and he said he thought he had heard the blast, that he was on his way to grocery shop and really did not think much of it,” said Mertens.  “Then he saw a bunch of emergency vehicles and realized something was going on.”

David Hull, who grew up in Decatur and moved to Brussels after graduating from law school at The University of Georgia described what the city looked like Tuesday night.

“You go to places, it would be like going to Midtown in Atlanta where you have a solider on every corner and the city is pretty much empty, that is what it is like here,” said David Hull.

Belgians said they will remain strong and get through this together.

“There is a strong sense of solidarity here,” said Hull.  “I think just like there was in New York after 9-11, people come together.”

“We are resilient, Belgians are typically,” said Mertens.  “We are going to pull through this, if you don’t, then they have won.”

At the airport, passengers on cancelled flights to Brussels anxiously wait at Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport for a rerouted flight to Europe.

While some are cancelling their trip and staying in Atlanta for now, Sonia Nanjik, eager to hear from loved ones at home, will fly to nearby Paris instead.

"I contacted everyone I could. Five of my friends have not checked in and I cannot reach them," Nandjik said, who has friends who would have commuted to the subway station in Brussels that was rocked by an explosion.

Nanjik said the subway station is in the heart of many government buildings, including the European Union. Her former colleagues work in EU buildings.

I was so happy hearing their voice, or seeing a text message, or checking on Facebook," Nanjik said. She said she may not return to Brussels until after Easter, after concerns the airport may be closed for several days.

The Brussels Airport has not released when it could allow flights again.

Other passengers hope, once they get to Europe, a train could get them to Brussels despite reports of major slowdowns Tuesday.