Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport will be closed until early Friday after a massive amount of rainfall caused flooding and grounded all flights at the airport on Wednesday.
The airport initially tweeted that FLL was expected to be closed until at least noon on Thursday, but officials said it would be closed until 5 a.m. Friday.
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Officials said the airport received a large volume of flood and debris on the airfields, and footage showed runways at the airport still covered by water Thursday morning.
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Officials said the additional closure time will give crews time to restore partial operations on one runway, as long as the conditions don't worsen.
Preliminary figures from the National Weather Service in Miami showed 25.91 inches of rain fell at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, shattering the old record of 14.59 inches set in 1979.
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Roadways around the airport had closed Wednesday due to the heavy rainfall and flooding. Some passengers reported being stranded at the airport.
The upper-level departures roadway reopened Thursday morning to allow travelers to pick up people. The lower level arrivals roadway remained closed.
Figures from Flight Aware showed nearly 400 flights had been canceled at the airport Thursday. Another 44 delays were reported.
Travelers were urged to check their airlines for revised flight statuses. The airport's ground shuttle system was also temporarily suspended.
On Wednesday, traffic around the airport was at a standstill and dozens of cars were halfway underwater.
Marylin Herrera dropped her mom off at the airport to catch a flight to Los Angeles. She said getting there wasn't a problem but trying to leave was.
"We were in the car from literally 4:00 until about 7:00 when we managed to finally leave the airport,” Herrera said.
She said it got worse. After they managed to get out of the terminal, they got stuck in the surrounding neighborhoods.
"Everybody appears to be losing their mind,” Herrera said. “There's traffic. Everyone's trying to get out of the flooded streets. Cars are stalling. It's just a nightmare."
She later found out her mom's flight was canceled.
There were some people who got out of their cars and walk to the airport with luggage in hand. Others trying to make their flight were forced to pull over on the side of the road and wait.
Joe Taylor missed his flight to Philadelphia. On the way to the airport, he said the water got higher and higher and into the Lyft he and his wife were in.
"It did at a certain point, I'm trying to help him out now that we're stopped, the more water he can get out of his car I appreciate that because he got us here,” Taylor said. "Really frustrated on the way here, and now that I'm at this point, you know it's over, you're not making your flight, you just have to deal with it.”
A video on Twitter showed flooding in a parking garage at FLL.
The heavy rain dumped what looks like waterfalls and rivers near FLL. One Twitter user said a friend had been stuck in her car for an hour due to the flooding.
The National Weather Service reported the water reached close to the tops of car tires.
Over at Miami International Airport, officials told NBC6 there were two short periods of flight delays on Wednesday due to lightning, and no flight cancelations. MIA received 15 flights that were diverted from Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, officials said.
Multiple tornado, flash flood and severe thunderstorm warnings were issued in South Florida as heavy rain swept through the area for the third day in a row.
Officials in Fort Lauderdale also closed the Kinney Tunnel due to the weather.
