Airport reopening as South Florida floods slowly recede

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) — One of Florida's busiest airports announced plans to reopen Friday morning, two days after an unprecedented deluge left planes and travellers stranded and turned Fort Lauderdale's streets into rivers.

Officials at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport completed final inspections after sunrise Friday and said in a tweet that operations would resume at 9 a.m.

“Travellers are advised to check with their airlines for updated flight times BEFORE coming to the airport. Thanks for your patience as we work to restore normal operations,” the tweet said.

The airport shut down Wednesday evening as a storm dumped more than 2 feet (60 centimetres) of rain.

“Nature has been unkind to us,” Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher said during a news conference Thursday afternoon at the airport.

A flood warning was expiring, but the National Weather Service warned motorists that water-covered roads could still be a hazard.

All across Fort Lauderdale, residents and business owners cleaned up. While it started raining on Monday in South Florida, much of the water fell Wednesday, and the Fort Lauderdale area saw record rainfall amounts on a matter of hours, ranging from 15 inches (38 centimetres) to 26 inches (66 centimetres).

Southwest cancelled about 50 departures through Friday morning, a spokesperson said. The airline is letting customers rebook on flights to and from Miami and Palm Beach at no additional charge, she said.

Frontier Airlines moved two flights from Fort Lauderdale to Miami but cancelled about 15 other round trips, a spokesperson said. Allegiant Air also cancelled some flights and rerouted others to the Tampa, Orlando and Punta Gorda areas.

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