Beirut airport's staff mopping water off the floors in one of the halls, amid heavy rainfall, Dec. 12, 2023. (Credit: Screenshot/X/@fouadkhreiss)
BEIRUT — Beirut's International Airport was partially and briefly flooded due to heavy rainfall, several videos shared on social media showed. This incident lead to a momentary suspension of flights, as announced by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Equipped with poorly maintained infrastructure, especially since the outbreak of the economic crisis in 2019, Lebanon's roads, and sometimes its only commercial airport, flood during winter.
A video shared on X (formerly Twitter) showed a group of the airport's employees mopping the water away from one of its halls.
The Civil Aviation Authority released a statement later on Tuesday saying that the sewage facilities and water pumps were working normally, and claimed that the reason behind the flood inside and around the airport was a heavy amount of rainfall that exceeded the average.
In its statement, the Civil Aviation Authority also said that flight aviation was suspended for 30 minutes because of the rain.
Earlier this month, several roads on the highway situated north of Beirut instantly flooded due to heavy rainfall, and some people were stuck in their cars.
