Major Florida Airport Remains Closed After Record Rain and Flooding

Dark clouds on the horizon in Miami, Florida
A major Florida airport remains shuttered Thursday afternoon after record-breaking rainfall and flooding hit the area.
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, which was forced to close on Wednesday, said in a statement on social media that it would remain closed until at least 5 a.m. on Friday.
“Due to the volume of flooding and debris on FLL’s airfields, the airport will remain closed for flight activity today…  until 5 a.m. Friday April 14, 2023,” Broward County Aviation Authority, which operates the aerodrome, said.  “The will allow airport staff to work to restore partial operations on one runway, providing current conditions do not worsen,” it added.
Flyers were advised to check with their airlines for updated schedules.
The county’s mayor begged people to stay away from the airport.
“Please don’t come hoping to get on an airplane,” said Broward County Mayor Lamar Fisher in a statement. “We hope to be operating again by Friday. We’re cautious, but optimistic.”
The airport is one of three serving the Miami metropolitan area.
FLL first opened in 1929 as Merle Fogg Field, after the aviator after whom the airport was named purchased an abandoned golf course for the purpose that had been destroyed in the 1926 Miami hurricane.   The airport had two unpaved runways.
At the start of the Second World War, the airport was commissioned by the U.S. Navy and renamed Navan Air Station Fort Lauderdale.  The runways were paved and an air-traffic control tower was constructed.
At the end of hostilities, it was turned over to the county and named Broward County International Airport, and in 1959, the airport opened its first permanent terminal building and assumed its current name.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)