The Valley International airport is back open and fully operational, the airport announced on Monday. 

The airport has been closed on Friday after a severe thunderstorm flooded the runway.

“Our goal is for passengers to have a safe and efficient experience at our airport while traveling to their next destination,” the airport said in a statement. “We will continue to uphold those standards and hope to see you soon at HRL.”

The closure affected 18,000 people who couldn’t fly in or out of the airport.

Airport crews spent the last three days trying to get the airport back up and running.

"It was a long weekend for our crew,” Valley International Airport Aviation director Marv Esterly said. “Multiple issues, all at one time, from lightning strikes to runway circuits to runway infrastructure, and tax weight infrastructure to our parking."

Esterly said it wasn't safe for any flights to take off or land because the runway was too saturated with water. The airport's drainage system is set up in a way that water drains into the Arroyo Colorado.

“So everything backed up,” Esterly said. “So our airport here… our field was underwater. All of our lighting, all of our runways, and a lot of that had to drain."

The airport had to wait for the arroyo to recede in order to be able to pump water into it.

Esterly said he believes they have a good system in place when it comes to drainage, but they're looking at ways to make it better for the future. 

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